WILL EGYPT'S SQUEEZE NEVER END?
Egypt's beleaguered private sector is wondering what is going
to hit it next. It remains deeply suspicious of official attitudes
toward the country's chaotic foreign exchange system following the
inept performance of former economy minister Mostafa el-Saeed. He tried
to crack down on the black market at the beginning of last year
(Euromoney, February 1985). There was widespread panic when he blocked
the free movement of proceeds on free dollar accounts. More than $800
million was said to have fled the country in the first three months of
1985.
One year later, as the private sector struggled to interpret
countrary signals and cope with the country's huge and largely
inert bureaucracy, stability was again threatened, this time by riots.
The riots followed the highly publicised hijacking of the Italian
cruise ship Achille Lauro and the subsequent forced landing by US jets
of the Egyptian airliner...
