Stabilization and Adjustment in Egypt: Reform or De-Industrialization

by Gouda Abdel-Khalek

Overview

This book studies the impact of Egypt's Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment Programme (ERSAP), the effects of which have been of great interest to the international community. Organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF uphold the programme as a success story and example for other countries to follow. ERSAP also has its critics, however, who resent its tendency to downsize government and fear possible negative effects on growth and development. The author discusses these concerns along with those regarding the possible negative social effects of ERSAP.

This vital and timely study analyses the impact of ERSAP at two distinct levels - macro- and microeconomic. At the macro level the effects of ERSAP on variables including interest and exchange rates, domestic public debt, trade balance, budget deficit and inflation are considered. At the micro level two industrial case studies are considered in detail: the aluminium industry, and the iron and steel industry. Both are energy intensive industries affected specifically by ERSAP's policy of raising energy prices towards parity with world prices. They are also usually considered essential to any serious industrialization process.

This book will interest and inform practitioners, policymakers and scholars of economics, industrial economics, development economics and development studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781840646207
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	10/28/2001
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Gouda Abdel-Khalek, Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Egypt

Table of Contents

Contents: Foreword by Ibrahim Shihata Introduction 1. Stabilization Experience before the 1990s 2. Economic “Reform” in the 1990s 3. The Macroeconomic Effects of ERSAP: Structural Reform or Dutch Disease? 4. The Main Features of the Manufacturing Sector 5. The Microeconomic Effects of ERSAP: 1. The Aluminium Industry 6. The Microeconomic Effects of ERSAP: 2. The Iron and Steel Industry 7. ERSAP and Industrialization: Concluding Remarks Annexes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

'This book will be of interest to a large variety of readers interested in economic policy, not only in Egypt but in many other developing countries as well . . . The author has done a good service in opening up questions regarding much of the policy package and the importance of tailoring more carefully to specific country circumstances. His reservations about the exchange rate, monetary policy, capital market liberalization, and trade liberalization merit consideration by all policy makers engaged in this work.'

F. Desmond McCarthy

'Well written and informative, the book is highly recommended to readers interested in the Egyptian economy or the IMF's and WB's structural reform programs. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections.'

D.D. Miller

'Professor Abdel-Khalek, an Egyptian economist with numerous high-quality publications to his credit, gives another example of fine scholarship with this volume . . . the book . . . deserves high marks. The author has done an excellent job pointing out the shortcomings of using monetary policies alone to achieve multiple targets . . . Abdel-Khalek's work should set the standard for current research.'

Khairy Tourk

'Professor Abdel-Khalek has produced a damning critique of the effects of the IMF structural adjustment programme in Egypt based on a detailed appraisal of the experience of the 1990s. He demonstrates how the macroeconomic reforms resulted in an overvalued real exchange rate, leading to a consumption binge by the better off, rapidly rising imports and a deteriorating trade balance. At the same time high domestic interest rates penalised local industries, yet domestic savings actually fell rather than rose as might have been expected. The evidence from Professor Abdel-Khalek's painstaking investigation of the effects on Egypt's aluminium and steel industries revealed that much more damage was done to the latter, but that even for aluminium there was no significant benefit. Parallels are drawn between the experience of Egypt and that of Mexico and some East Asian countries. It is clear that structural adjustment programmes can actually weaken economic fundamentals and result in at best sluggish and volatile growth. This study is an important contribution to the literature that illustrates how the Washington consensus on structural adjustment is misguided. It deserves to be read by those with an interest in the political economy of the Middle East, as well as by all those concerned with development issues more widely.'

Rodney Wilson