Although the economic programmes of the various candidates may be appealing to citizens, proof remains in the pudding. Niveen Wahish reports As the Egyptian saying goes, "most promises are made before the elections." Well now is that time and the various political parties are vowing to solve the myriad of economic problems that confront the Egyptian citizen. Job creation, improved living standards and public welfare are all common themes in the promises being made. However, with the exception of a few innovative ideas, many of the newly proposed programmes seek to achieve the same goals the NDP has long aspired to accomplish. These goals involve encouraging increased investments and thereby growth as well as taming public debt which has reached 106 per cent of the Growth Domestic Product (GDP). In fact, a number of candidates have called for the restructuring of the government budget as a means to improve the allocation of resources. Mamdouh Qenawi of the Free Social Constitutional party, points out that a significant portion of the budget is directed towards funding the army and security services. He laments that security spending is not supervised by the People's Assembly (PA). He believes that increased transparency is a requisite for effective PA supervision. "That spending may be justified," he notes, "but it needs to be out in the open." The funds earmarked for security, he feels, should be directed towards developing human resources and research and development. Qenawi also wants to create a citizen's bank modelled after the Bank of the Poor, an idea first applied in Bangladesh. The idea, he says, is to provide financing for those who do not have any access to commercial banks. They could use this financing to set up projects or buy housing. While he is not against privatisation, he does believe that not all government projects should be privatised. It is his contention that, "strategic industries should be kept in government ownership," He also laments that the revenues generated by privatisation were poured into the treasury rather than funding new investments. He also wants to further cut taxes to 16 per cent. "The lower the taxes, the lesser the burden on producers." Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour, The Wafd spokesperson in parliament told Al-Ahram Weekly about the programme of the Wafd Party candidate, Noaman Gomaa. Abdel-Nour stated that restructuring the budget will help direct more funds towards better education, health services, transportation and even a pension scheme for farmers. He sees three problems with the current budget, namely a high public debt that has reached over 100 per cent of the GDP. Moreover, the debt service takes up 33 per cent of total revenues. Adding to this problem is the fact that government authorities bring in only two per cent of the revenue invested in them. "They need to be revamped so as to enable them to bring in the required revenue," he explained. An essential aspect of Gomaa's plan is a restructuring of the funds earmarked for subsidies. He does not believe that subsidies should be done away with entirely, but rather redirected to only those who need it. "If the funds currently used to subsidise bread, gasoline or transportation are redirected towards providing direct monetary compensation to government employees, ration card holders and small farmers, each could receive as much as LE12,000 per year. This would enable them to handle the increase in prices." Part of the Wafd plan to restructure the budget is to cut unnecessary government spending, such as spending on luxurious office buildings, or projects that have already been extensively invested in like Toshka. In the Wafd opinion, improving the climate for investment would help create jobs, increase government revenues through the collection of taxes from new projects, as well as contribute to solving the public debt since more investment would facilitate a higher growth rate. He does not believe the government should withdraw from economic activity all together, but rather act as the pace- maker. On the issue of privatisation, the Wafd candidate believes that better use could be made of privatisation revenues if they were re-invested in projects that the private sector would be reluctant to approach on its own. "It could provide the seed capital for such projects that would later encourage the private sector to follow suit." The Wafd candidate is targeting 25 per cent of the budget for investments. A good portion of that can only be achieved by attracting foreign investment which will come with an improved environment for investment. "Our target is similar to that of the NDP, but they have been in power for over 20 years and have not achieved anything. Its about time they let somebody else try." Abdel Nour said. Ayman Nour, the Ghad Party candidate also has an ambitious programme. He wants to offer citizens three meals a day as well as annual salary increases that will depend on the inflation rate so as to ensure that salaries provide a decent living. He also proposes an unemployment support scheme that goes hand in hand with a rehabilitation project for the unemployed that helps them find new jobs. Nour also plans to restructure the budget so that funds will be allocated according to achieved results. He is also for cutting extravagant government expenditures to lower the budget deficit. He believes the government should pay its dues to contractors to revive the economy. And his party has conceived a plan to develop the industrial sector with emphasis on small industries and believe that 25 per cent of government procurements should be from small industries. Ibrahim Tork, the Ittihadi candidate reiterated similar views. He believes that economic reform is the gateway to political reform. He too believes that government expenditures for the authorities and the army have exceeded their revenues. He is a strong supporter of economic liberalisation as a means to attract investment. "We have to ensure foreign investors that we truly believe in a free market economy," he says. Moreover, he encourages the entrepreneurial spirit, seeing that it incentives people to be more productive. And he stressed that once steps have been taken in that direction, no contradicting laws should be issued. He believes in doubling agricultural production by maximising the benefit of available land and reclaiming new lands in the desert. Fawzi Ghazal, the Misr 2000 candidate offers a different perspective. He calls for the better usage of resources such as water by developing the fishing sector and creating urban areas along the coasts to develop the fishing industry for local consumption as well as exports. He also wants to implement agricultural development in large areas of the desert with suitable plants such as cactus, olives, figs, palms, and desert herbs that could be used for the development of cancer treatments. He also wants to raise camels for meat knowing that they do not get mad- cow disease. A number of the proposed programmes are strikingly different. For example, Ahmed El-Sabahi, head of Umma Party, wants economic reform from an Islamic perspective. His target is an economy run according to Islamic Sharia. At the core of his plan is the establishment of a fund wherein zakat money is collected to support government expenditure in areas such as education, health and other services for the poor and needy. He estimates that such zakat money could bring in as much as LE30 billion per year. Another candidate who deviates from the views of most parties is Rifaat El-Agroudi of the National Accordance Party. He holds a very strong opinion against privatisation saying it is one of the causes for unemployment. He plans to put an end to it so as to at least save existing jobs. He also stressed that the government should continue to own heavy industries such as iron and steel. "We used to be proud that we wear, eat and live in what we made with our own hands, but our industry has been sabotaged by privatisation brokers," his candidacy statement reads. Al-Agroudi also wants to boost productivity by lowering water and electricity fees because the latter raises the cost of production, rendering Egyptian products uncompetitive against foreign imports. Wahid El-Oqssori of Arab Socialist Egypt Party presents a socialist view. His economic programme draws on Article 4 of the Egyptian constitution which states that Egypt's is a socialist system. In his view, what is currently taking place in terms of economic liberalisation is unconstitutional. He believes that both the government and the private sector must play a role wherein the government should carry out what the private sector cannot, like extending railway lines or urbanising the desert. Moreover, he wants to fight escalating prices by increasing production of essential goods. He believes that the public sector is the main axis for economic development. "It should continue to play its social role in keeping prices of basic goods low and making them readily available." And Osama Shaltout of the Takaful Party believes he can serve the economy by convincing Gulf oil-producing countries to pay a fifth of the revenue of mining activities such as oil production to the poor. He will see to it that Gulf countries give this money to Arab countries to help their economies. And he wants to attract voters by promising to solve the age-old housing problem and giving each citizen an apartment close to his work place.
