Revealing statistics show state of investment and cash reserves in Egypt

Former Minister of Food Supplies Basem Ouda has revealed statistics which purport to show the real state of investment and cash reserves in Egypt. The coup government is accused of ignoring the worsening economic situation in the country since it ousted elected president Mohamed Morsi in July.

The falling value of the Egyptian pound on the currency markets, said Ouda, will have “catastrophic” effects. “This will raise serious concerns with all investors,” he pointed out. “They will see the values of their projects estimated in foreign currency decrease sharply and the prices of all commodities needed for the projects will rise; thus, demand will go down and investors will suffer great losses.”

The former minister also expected a “dangerous return” of the black market in foreign currencies. He accused the coup leadership of imposing a news blackout on such statistics which illustrate the “disaster” of the economy.

Meanwhile, the chief editor of Al-Alam Al-Youm newspaper, Mostafa Abdul-Salam, said that there is no current balance of foreign cash reserves in Egypt after the military coup. “The current estimate of cash reserves is $10 billion; the outstanding cash reserve is $8 billion for Qatar, $5 billion for Saudi Arabia and $2 billion for Libya.”