Word: egypt
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Thanks to its foreign income, Egypt has not been hurt economically by the loss of the $800 million or so in Arab aid it used to get annually, or by the Arab countries' refusal to do business with Cairo; before the boycott, those states accounted for only 7% of Egypt's trade. Arab anger remains high; the Egyptians expect that all of their postal, telephone and telex links to other Arab countries, as well as the remaining airline flights, will be severed in March, when Egypt and Israel plan to open embassies in Jerusalem and Cairo. Still, some...
Nonetheless, Egypt is now heavily dependent on Western and Japanese aid and investment. Cairo officials fear that the Arab irritation with Egypt may deter Western companies from seeking out the joint-venture projects with Egyptian partners that Sadat is encouraging. Though the oil companies have been involved in exploration for some years, the list of other major U.S. investors that have moved into Egypt or are seriously considering doing so is still fairly short. Coca-Cola, 7-Up and Xerox have set up operations there; Ford, General Motors and Union Carbide have investment projects in the planning stage. Yet Egypt...
...Egypt's domestic economy is a mess. Despite a growth rate of about 8% this year, the bulk of the country's 40 million people remain desperately poor, with an average income of under $300 (vs. $2,700 for Israel). In the past year, thousands of peasants have abandoned the land to jam into the already swollen cities in hope of sharing in a peace-bred boom. Thus unemployment is soaring at a time when inflation is hovering above...
...outlays ($1.4 billion this year) until the last of the Sinai is returned after 1982, so he must trim the huge subsidies ($1.7 billion) used to hold down the cost of food and fuel, a vestige of Nasser-era socialism. Despite big hikes in the cost of imported wheat (Egypt produces less than 30% of its needs), bread has been held to 1?; a loaf, the same as in the 1930s and a fifth of the real cost...
...when the government last tried to raise food prices (bread went to 2?), riots erupted that nearly toppled Sadat. But if the President is to get more foreign loans-he has said that Egypt will need $18.5 billion over the next five years-he needs the approval of the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has been pressing Egypt for economic reforms, particularly a cut in the subsidies, and it is sending a team to Cairo this month to see what progress has been made...