Egypt's president says no more privatization
Egypt's president: No further selling of state-owned companies
CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi says that there will be no further privatization of state-owned companies.
Egypt's economy is hard hit by the more than two years of turmoil since the ouster of longtime president Hosni Mubarak in a mass uprising in 2011. Losses to the vital tourism sector have depleted government revenues and public sector companies are an additional burden on the budget.
In a Tuesday speech on the eve of May Day, Morsi — an Islamist from the Muslim Brotherhood group — said there would be no selling of the public sector. He did not specify whether this was a temporary or permanent measure.
Egypt privatized key companies in the 1990s under Mubarak but the program stalled in recent years. Critics say the sales were tainted by corruption.
