Egypt stimulus package being mulled over by new rulers

Egypt stimulus package being mulled over by new rulers

A stimulus package for Egypt is being contemplated by the country's finance officials who have been allowed by the military junta to take care of economic functions for now.

The lack of jobs is one of the reasons why long-time President Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office last week and Egyptians have been calling for officials to get them employed.

Current government officials are on holdover capacity to run  most government services until the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces instructs them otherwise.

Mubarak transferred all power to the military council when he stepped down. Military authorities have since imposed martial law and suspended the constitution to regain order.

According to officials, the Egyptian stimulus package may help bring down the nine percent unemployment rate. Joblessness among young Egyptians are specially severe. An International Labour Organization report in 2009 said that as much as 28 percent of those aged 20 to 25 have no jobs as of the end of 2008.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Finance Minister Samir Radwan said, "There is a need for a stimulus package that is very closely related to employment."

Prior to the revolution, finance officials estimated a 6 percent growth rate for the economy. Radwan downgraded that figure to about 4 percent but said "it's still early to tell" as the fiscal year runs through June, still four months away. About $850 million were paid to Egyptians who lost property during the protests and rioting.

Apart from the planned stimulus package to create more jobs, the government already made permanent about 600,000 temporary workers.

Posted by James Fried on Monday February 14 2011, 4:24 AM EDT. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0