Egypt has suffered
huge economic losses during political protests that broke out 12 days
ago but the government is committed to meeting its financial
obligations, finance minister Samir Radwan said on Friday.
“Certainly it’s
going to be huge,” Radwan said in an interview with Reuters Insider
television. “It’s too early to put the loss in terms of pounds and
pennies.”
He said the
Egyptian government would honour all financial commitments once banks
reopen on Sunday, including 21 billion Egyptian pounds worth of
Treasury bills that must be redeemed next week.
Radwan said the governor of the central bank had been in constant contact with the heads of banks.
“He has two major
concerns. One, not starve the market for cash, and two, not to put any
stringent measures on foreign investors and foreign dealers and so on,
and of course ease the pressure on the Egyptian pound,” Radwan said.
Two major sources of foreign exchange, tourism and remittances from workers abroad, had been hurt, Radwan said.
“One million
tourists alone have left the country already. This is the height of the
tourist season in Egypt,” he said. “The sooner the present stand-off is
over, the better our position will be to deal with the effect.”
Asked about food prices, he said they would not be allowed to get out of hand after the political crisis was settled.
“We are adamant
that markets should be controlled, that they should not be subject to
chaos. It’s normal that in a situation like this people would like to
put up prices,” Radwan said.
Day of Departure protest
Hundreds of
thousands of Egyptians marched peacefully in Cairo on Friday to demand
an immediate end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule, but there
was no sign of his generals, or his U.S. allies, squeezing him out just
yet.
Turnout nationwide
seemed short of the million seen on Tuesday and which leaders had hoped
to match on what they called “Departure Day”. Many Egyptians, weary of
disorder, feel Mubarak did enough this week by pledging to step down in
September. Some also were wary of renewed violence by shadowy Mubarak
loyalists.
On the 11th day of
unprecedented massive protests which have revolutionised Egypt and the
wider Arab world, some 200,000 men and women from all walks of life
streamed past patient soldiers to the capital’s Tahrir, or Liberation,
Square.
A similar number marched in the second city of Alexandria and smaller pro-democracy rallies were held elsewhere.
“Leave! Leave!
Leave!” crowds chanted after Friday prayers on the square in Cairo. A
cleric praised the “revolution of the young” and declared: “We want the
head of the regime removed.”
“Game over” said one banner, in English for the benefit of international television channels beaming out live coverage.
Yet for all the
enthusiasm on the streets, and new-found tolerance by the army,
Mubarak’s fate, and that of a 60-year-old system of military-backed
rule, lies as much in bargains struck behind the scenes among generals
keen to retain influence and Western officials anxious not to see a key
Arab ally against radical Muslims slide into chaos or be taken over by
Islamists.
European Union
leaders echoed calls from the United States for Mubarak to do more than
promise not to run in September’s election: “This transition process
must start now,” they said.
The 82-year-old president said on Thursday he was “fed up” but would not stand down because that would create chaos.
Prominent figures
A handful of
prominent figures from academia and business said they proposed a
compromise under which newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman, a
former intelligence chief who has the confidence of Washington, should
take over real authority while Mubarak could serve out his fifth term
as a figurehead leader.
There was a
festive, weekend atmosphere as secular, middle-class professionals and
pious, generally poorer, members of the mass Islamist movement the
Muslim Brotherhood, mingled, sang and chanted under banners and
ubiquitous Egyptian flags.
Food and water, medical treatment for those overcome by heat and crowding, opinions and jokes were all shared.
Away from the
square, groups of Mubarak loyalists harassed journalists. Some attacked
the offices of Al Jazeera television. Others tried to deter people from
demonstrating. But there was little of the extreme violence seen on
Wednesday and Thursday.
In a reminder of
how events in Egypt are linked to a wider confrontation between
Islamists and Western powers in the oil-rich Middle East, Iran’s
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed an “Islamic liberation
movement” in Egypt.
Iran’s
anti-Western, Islamic revolution of 1979 against the repressive,
U.S.-funded shah has been cited by some in Israel and the West as
creating a possible precedent for Egypt to turn into a major hostile
force to Western power in the region.
U.S. discussions
U.S. officials said
they were discussing with Egyptians a number of options to begin a
handover of power that would keep Egypt stable. Though President Barack
Obama has called publicly only for an immediate start to “transition”,
one option, a U.S. official said, was for Mubarak to be replaced right
away.
Mubarak and
ministers in the government he appointed a week ago in response to the
protests insist stability is better and have appealed over the heads of
the marchers to a wider public.
“More than 95
percent of the Egyptian people would vote for the president to complete
his presidential term … and not (retire) now as America and some
Western states want,” new Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was quoted as
saying by state media.
New Finance
Minister Samir Radwan told Reuters the economic losses after 11 days of
protest will be “huge”. The tourist business, centred on pyramids and
beaches, has been ravaged.
Radwan said the government had set up a fund worth $850 million to compensate people whose property had been damaged.
Islamist assurances
The long-banned
Muslim Brotherhood has sought to allay Western and Israeli concerns
about its potential to take power in a free vote. A day after Vice
President Suleiman broke ground by saying the Brotherhood was welcome
to join a national dialogue, it said it would not seek the presidency.
Liberal figurehead
Mohamed ElBaradei, a retired U.N. diplomat, said he too did not seek
the top job, but repeated he was willing to help in a transition if
Mubarak resigned now.
But Amr Moussa,
secretary general of the Arab League and former Egyptian foreign
minister, said he believed Mubarak would hold on until September’s
election. Though he added cautiously: “But there are extraordinary
things happening, there’s chaos and perhaps he will take another
decision.”
Any new government will face major challenges, not least the sheer
diversity of long-suppressed political opinion, religious tensions and
the high expectations aroused by the demonstrations of solutions to
unemployment and other economic ills.
