CAIRO – Reuters Sep 30,2014 – In his first 100 days in office, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has made a fast start on economic reform: slashing costly fuel subsidies, raising taxes and devising infrastructure projects to secure long-term revenues and ease unemployment.
Those are moves that have long been sought by foreign investors. But winning their full confidence will require pushing ahead with further politically-sensitive reforms and sealing an elusive deal with the International Monetary Fund.
A loan from the global lender would serve as a badly-needed stamp of approval for a country battered by political turmoil since a popular uprising ended 30 years of rule by autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
For decades, Mubarak mostly avoided politically-risky reforms that might anger a population reliant on subsidized food and fuel. His Islamist successor Mohamed Mursi also showed little sign of progress during a tumultuous year in power.