Ahmed Heikal According to Ahmed Heikal, the Egyptian businessman and son of journalist, Mohamed Hussein Heikal, an increase in the national debt of up to 30% of the budgeted gross debt is expected to occur.
Heikal states that this is due to the orientation of the government towards borrowing and increasing interest rates.
He told Arabstoday the increase in the national debt is a threat to the Egyptian economy, after an increase of 21% of the budgeted gross debt. It reached 16% compared to only 10% before the revolution.
Ahmed Heikal, who is the President and Founder of Castle Financial Investments Group, said that there are the priorities to deal with including the strikes all over the country, reducing unemployment rate, opening the closed factories and of course not leaving the situation of the informal districts as they are currently.
He explained that the deficit percentage registered last year of 11% is very high and that Egypt can’t support it, further adding that this percentage will probably reach 200 billion Egyptian pounds this year.