Word: sadat
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...other Arab countries, as well as the remaining airline flights, will be severed in March, when Egypt and Israel plan to open embassies in Jerusalem and Cairo. Still, some top Egyptians believe that the boycott will not last long, and may be softening already. In November, says one Sadat aide, the Saudis began sending "signals" that they would not undermine Egypt or the peace treaty; they would go on shipping oil through the canal and the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline, and the $2 billion that they and Kuwait have in the Central Bank of Egypt would not be pulled...
Nonetheless, Egypt is now heavily dependent on Western and Japanese aid and investment. Cairo officials fear that the Arab irritation with Egypt may deter Western companies from seeking out the joint-venture projects with Egyptian partners that Sadat is encouraging. Though the oil companies have been involved in exploration for some years, the list of other major U.S. investors that have moved into Egypt or are seriously considering doing so is still fairly short. Coca-Cola, 7-Up and Xerox have set up operations there; Ford, General Motors and Union Carbide have investment projects in the planning stage. Yet Egypt...
That is largely a result of out-of-control government spending, which this year will produce a deficit of $4.3 billion in a budget of under $10 billion. Sadat will not cut defense outlays ($1.4 billion this year) until the last of the Sinai is returned after 1982, so he must trim the huge subsidies ($1.7 billion) used to hold down the cost of food and fuel, a vestige of Nasser-era socialism. Despite big hikes in the cost of imported wheat (Egypt produces less than 30% of its needs), bread has been held to 1?; a loaf, the same...
...when the government last tried to raise food prices (bread went to 2?), riots erupted that nearly toppled Sadat. But if the President is to get more foreign loans-he has said that Egypt will need $18.5 billion over the next five years-he needs the approval of the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has been pressing Egypt for economic reforms, particularly a cut in the subsidies, and it is sending a team to Cairo this month to see what progress has been made...
...crunch will come in January with the announcement of the 1980 budget, which will almost certainly contain some subsidy cuts. On that potentially explosive occasion, Sadat may need all of his considerable powers of persuasion to convince his people that the "better life" he has promised is still imminent...