Finance Minister Amr El Garhy wants economic reforms to achieve stability, he told Euromoney in an interview. He wants to see Egyptian exports grow, saying that while they are annually in the USD 20 bn region, other peers like Malaysia and Indonesia export ten times the volume. El Garhy also noted that subsidy reform was a necessity: “Subsidies have been one of the things that’s really hurt this economy and hurt the people. They’ve been a massive cost to the country, but the regime back then did not want to increase costs for the people to ensure there was no resentment or backlash… When you give an absolute subsidy to everyone, without any distinction, you hurt the poor more than the rich, who had two or three cars and can afford it.” Euromoney also pointed out concerns about policy stability, noting that El Garhy is Egypt’s ninth Finance Minister since 2011, and if he lasts until April, he will have been in office for 25 months and will become longest-serving minister since then. El Garhy: “I’m happy to do the job, if they keep me. It’s not my decision. But definitely, I love to serve my country. I will not tell you that it is patriotic when you feel you have the necessary experience to do the job… It’s challenging, a lot of pressure … I’m doing this job at a difficult time, when there’s a need for economic reform.”

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