The cabinet at its meeting Wednesday 14/5/2008 under Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif has stressed the importance of clamping tight control over markets so that some people may not capitalize on increasing sales tax on some oil products to apply unjustified increase in transport tariffs or intensifying crises of some commodities.

 

Cabinet spokesman Magdi Radi said the meeting took up the recent package of economic measures in light of President Hosni Mubarak's May raise and municipal incentives directives, which put the government face to face with obligations to secure real financial resources to meet the increase.

 

Talks also focused on restructuring secondary and technical education in Egypt to meet demands of the labor market, Radi said.

 

Only last Sunday President Mubarak inaugurated a conference on education development and university enrollment policies.

 

Minister of State for Economic Development Osman Mohamed Osman submitted a report on Gross Domestic Product during the third quarter of this fiscal year. He underscored an increase in Egypt's GDP to reach about 226.5 billion Egyptian pounds (EGP) compared to 180.8 billion in 2006-2007. This is a 25.3 percent increase, Osman noted.

 

The overall growth rate stood at 7.5 percent during the same period this year, the report said.

 

The Minister of Agriculture, for his part, briefed the cabinet on a strategy to upgrade the agricultural sector in Egypt.

 

In his report presented to the government today, Amin Abaza attributed the soaring food prices across the world to a former rise in the price of oil and energy. Abaza also believes that better living conditions in many developing countries, as well as climate change, has contributed to the fact.

 

Agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers and insecticides, are sky-high and the US dollar is atrophying in the face of other major currencies, the report said.

 

The world food crisis has taken its toll on Egypt, which imports 40 percent of its foodstuffs. Egypt for example pays 8.8 billion EGP for 5.9 million tons of wheat.

 

Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza reviewed at the cabinet meeting a report on the ministry's strategy to develop the agricultural sector.

 

The report indicated policies in relation with natural resources, saying they are aimed at making the best use of these resources.

 

The report took up policies adopted by the ministry with a view to sealing the gap between the production of basic crops and consumption.

 

It also reviewed policies relaled to animal wealth.