EGYPT'S PROBLEMS ESCALATE

In Egypt, President Morsi's government has decided to link the prices of medicines sold locally to the prices of those sold abroad.

This is an indication that Morsi is on the side of the big corporations.

The Health Ministry's decision to tie medicine prices to international prices goes against the Mubarak policy of helping the poor.

The Mubarak government decreed that medicine prices were to be based on the cost of production, regardless of prices abroad.

Sabbahi: Raising medicine prices shows Morsy's social bias‎

 

The Arab Spring has frightened away tourists, frightened away investors and wrecked economic growth.

Analysis - As Egypt leaders feud, economy heads toward cliff

Egypt's foreign reserves are now well below half the level they were in January 2011.

The Egyptian government has to pay an 'unsustainable' 16 percent on money it borrows (one-year treasury bills)

President Mursi, aka Morsi, will have to  introduce austerity measures, before the IMF will lend him any money.

The enemy within?

Under Mubarak, money poured into Egypt and provided growth and jobs.

"Egypt was held up as the model for the Middle East - recognized as the Top Reformer for the region by the World Bank for three years in a row from 2006 to 2008. Indeed, in 2008, the country was awarded the World’s Top Reformer by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation." (With Europe in crisis, Egypt must reverse course‎)

Under Mubarak, economic growth reached 7 percent

Now, economic growth is around 1 percent, far below the level needed to create jobs.

Analysis - As Egypt leaders feud, economy heads toward cliff

Will Israel try to grab the Sinai from Egypt?

The next Middle East war‎

"Sinai has been witnessing a steady decline in law and order since the January 25 revolution. 

"Hamas is believed to have infiltrated Gaza's borders with Egypt to smuggle weapons into the beleaguered strip. 

"There are signs that Al Qaeda is also active in the desert peninsula. 

"On the eve of the second round of presidential elections, a rocket was fired from Sinai into Israeli territory. Israel accused Hamas of ordering the attack at the request of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood...

"The Muslim Brotherhood's stance on the Arab-Israeli conflict is clear, at least to millions of their followers across the region. 

"It does not recognise Israel and supports holy war to liberate Jerusalem and the occupied territories, which encompass all of historical Palestine.

"This is one of the main reasons why the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in Egypt issued a supplementary constitutional proclamation on the eve of the presidential elections. It decreed that all matters relating to the armed forces will reside with SCAF and not with the newly elected president. Furthermore, while the president has the right to declare war, he can only do so with the consent of SCAF...

"Since the collapse of the Libyan regime, huge caches of weapons have found their way from Libya into the Sinai Peninsula. 

"For Israel, the fact that Hamas has now access to new armaments represents a huge security challenge. It is a situation that neither Israel nor Egypt can control." 

Israel "may decide to carry out a preemptive strike against Hamas and loyal cells deep within Sinai." 

The next Middle East war‎