ion:
Ambassador Ahmed MAHER El Sayed
chancery:
2310 Decatur Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
(202) 232-5400
consulates general:
Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Robert PELLETREAU
embassy:
Lazougi Street, Garden City, Cairo
mailing address:
APO AE 09839 telephone:
[20] (2) 355-7371
FAX:
[20] (2) 355-7375
consulate general:
Alexandria
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with the
national emblem (a shield superimposed on a golden eagle facing the hoist
side above a scroll bearing the name of the country in Arabic) centered in
the white band; similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band;
also similar to the flag of Syria that has two green stars and to the flag
of Iraq, which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a
horizontal line centered in the white band

*Egypt, Economy

Overview:
Egypt has one of the largest public sectors of all the Third World
economies, most industrial plants being owned by the government.
Overregulation holds back technical modernization and foreign investment.
Even so, the economy grew rapidly during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but
in 1986 the collapse of world oil prices and an increasingly heavy burden of
debt servicing led Egypt to begin negotiations with the IMF for
balance-of-payments support. Egypt's first IMF standby arrangement concluded
in mid-1987 was suspended in early 1988 because of the government's failure
to adopt promised reforms. Egypt signed a follow-on program with the IMF and
also negotiated a structural adjustment loan with the World Bank in 1991. In
1991-92 the government made solid progress on administrative reforms such as
liberalizing exchange and interest rates but resisted implementing major
structural reforms like streamlining the public sector. As a result, the
economy has not gained momentum and unemployment has become a growing
problem. In 1992-93 tourism has plunged 20% or so because of sporadic
attacks by Islamic extremists on tourist groups. President MUBARAK has cited
population growth as the main cause of the country's economic troubles. The
addition of about 1.4 million people a year to the already huge population
of 60 million exerts enormous pressure on the 5% of the land area available
for agriculture.
National product: