Egypt Takes a Step Back From IMF Ways http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54544

Egypt could soon be looking for a new economic model – one that will be different from the traditional system that has been promoted for years by international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), under the reign of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.Some officials say that the new programmes constitute an initial reaction from a team known for its pro-capitalist background and are only temporary. "We are not moving back to a socialist past," Amina Ghanem, deputy finance minister, told IPS. "We are just trying to extinguish fires."Al-Hariri, a member of the left-of-centre Tagammu Party, agreed that the current interim government is not taking a U-turn away from capitalist policies inspired by Western financial institutions. "Their measures are just like tranquilizers; something to kill the pain but not cure anything," he said.Mamdouh Al-Wali, a business writer with the Al-Ahram Daily newspaper, said Egypt’s path towards a new economic direction will be fraught with dangers from deeply-rooted interests, such as businesses, former regime symbols, and international financial institutions. "A future new government, even though elected, may not be able to resist all that counter-pressure," he told IPS. "The change will be hard." (END)