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IMF / EGYPT
STORY: IMF/ EGYPT
TRT: 2:14
SOURCE: IMF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 FEBRUARY, 2011, WASHINGTON D.C.
WASHINGTON, DC – RECENT
1. Wide shot, IMF
WASHINGTON, DC – 17 FEBRUARY, 2011
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Masood Ahmed, Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF):
“The recent popular protests in Egypt will definitely have a short term economic cost. In particular we will see tourism and investment going down and certainly the 5.5% growth rate that we saw in the last two quarters of 2010 will be lower in the next six months or so while the situation stabilizes.”
WASHINGTON, DC – RECENT
3. Various shots, IMF
WASHINGTON, DC – 17 FEBRUARY, 2011
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Masood Ahmed, Director, Middle East and Central Asia:
“What we’re seeing for a number of countries in the region is some of the same pressures that come from rising food and fuel prices, the pressures of unemployment that come from high levels of unemployment, particularly from young people. We’ve seen a number of governments respond to these pressures, in some cases preemptively, by providing a greater degree of subsidies for food prices, by providing more public sector jobs, by raising salaries. I think all of these measures, in the first instance will help alleviate the current global trends on populations around the region. At the same time, this also adds to the fiscal burden going forward and some of these countries already have strained fiscal situations. This raises the urgency of trying to develop modern, fairer and more permanent system of social protection that will ensure that poor people are protected. The IMF believes strongly that the government should provide protection and support for the poorest people in society in a more efficient way on those who need them most rather than spent across the board on products that are consumed by rich and poor alike.”
WASHINGTON, DC – RECENT
4. Various shots, IMF
Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, says that one of the lessons from recent unrest in the Middle East is that governments should focus much more on inclusive growth and give better-targeted help to poorer households.
In an interview, Ahmed said that the events in Egypt will clearly have a negative economic impact in the short run, but over the longer term they can position Egypt to better exploit its potential to achieve higher standards of living and employment for all sections of its population.
“The recent popular protests in Egypt will definitely have a short term economic cost. In particular we will see tourism and investment going down and certainly the 5.5% growth rate that we saw in the last two quarters of 2010 will be lower in the next six months or so while the situation stabilizes,” Ahmed said.
Speaking on events in Tunisia, Egypt, and across the Middle East, Ahmed said that, partly in response, authorities in the region have announced an increase in fiscal spending, in some cases preemptively and as large as 3 percent of GDP. These include higher food and fuel subsidies, social transfers, including to the unemployed, tax reductions on staple commodities, higher funding for private housing and an expansion of civil service employment or salaries.
“What we’re seeing for a number of countries in the region is some of the same pressures that come from rising food and fuel prices, the pressures of unemployment that come from high levels of unemployment, particularly from young people. We’ve seen a number of governments respond to these pressures, in some cases preemptively, by providing a greater degree of subsidies for food prices, by providing more public sector jobs, by raising salaries. I think all of these measures, in the first instance will help alleviate the current global trends on populations around the region. At the same time, this also adds to the fiscal burden going forward and some of these countries already have strained fiscal situations. This raises the urgency of trying to develop modern, fairer and more permanent system of social protection that will ensure that poor people are protected. The IMF believes strongly that the government should provide protection and support for the poorest people in society in a more efficient way on those who need them most rather than spent across the board on products that are consumed by rich and poor alike,” Ahmed said.
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