Despite their differing readings of the Egyptian government's decision to sell state-owned assets, experts warned in their interview with the program "Beyond the News" of the repercussions of this decision on the Egyptian citizen, who suffers from difficult living conditions under the current circumstances.

Dr. Abdel Nabi Abdel Muttalib, a professor of political economy and international economist, said that the Egyptian government's decision to conclude contracts to sell government assets to private companies is a message addressed to the International Monetary Fund and the Egyptian investor, who chose to resort to it as a compromise in light of the economic problems it faces.

He added that the government wants to tell the Egyptian investor that it is committed to implementing the decisions it has recently taken regarding equality between state companies and private sector companies in obligations and duties.

The Egyptian government has announced contracts to sell government assets to private companies worth up to $1.9 billion. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the move was part of a government IPO program and had nothing to do with Egypt's economic crisis.

Dr. Mustafa Youssef, a researcher in international finance and economic studies, told the program that the Egyptian government's decision is 100% linked to the current economic crisis, for several reasons, including that Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated before June 30 that more than two billion dollars in assets would be sold, but only 7% was sold.

Dr. Youssef said that he values the sale of assets to Egyptian investors, whether at home by businessmen or abroad, as more than 11 million Egyptians abroad were transferring more than $35 billion annually, but this percentage has declined greatly due to their fear for their deposits.

He presented some figures on the difficult Egyptian economic situation, revealing that since the establishment of what he called the "new republic" on July 3, 2013, Egypt has imported more than 70% of its food needs or intermediate goods, in addition to increasing foreign loans from $ 43 billion to more than $ 165 billion, as well as increasing internal debt and non-oil exports.

According to the same spokesman, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have warned since 2019 of the big problem facing Egypt, as more than 60% of Egyptians are poor or below the poverty line, and after the Corona pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine, the number rose to more than 70%, according to unofficial reports.

Regarding the repercussions of the decision to sell state-owned assets on the Egyptian citizen, Dr. Youssef said that the Egyptian citizen suffers due to the absence of sources of foreign currency, and the expectation of an increase in inflation and poverty rates, and the matter will not improve without a real development plan and facing problems.

For his part, political economy professor and international economist Abdul Muttalib did not rule out double damage to Egyptian citizens as a result of the Egyptian government's decision to conclude contracts to sell government assets to private companies.

Gulf conditions for investment in Egypt

On the Gulf conditions for direct investment in Egypt, researcher and economic consultant, Ali Al-Enezi, focused on the issue of clear economic reforms, most notably, the privatization of sectors and transparency, and the entry of the private sector as an administration, in addition to providing full freedom of competition and fixing the faltering price of the pound, pointing out that the Gulf countries do not invest in Egypt for material benefit only, but also want to help Egypt.

He said that the emergency and exceptional economic problems created an unhealthy atmosphere for investment in Egypt, highlighting that the decline in the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound was the reason for the reluctance of countries that were providing assistance to Egypt through deposits or buying government bonds.

While Dr. Abdul Muttalib explained that the Gulf conditions for investment in Egypt are related to the issue of clarity of exchange rate policies, and that the Gulf investor has the right to demand access to a fair exchange rate that guarantees him the calculation of profits and losses.

He added that other conditions relate to improving the investment climate, including that tax, customs and judicial treatment be both between Egyptian, Arab and foreign investors and investments owned by the government and sovereign entities, which are not conditions but basics in order to encourage investment in Egypt.