Egypt's unstable growth

As Egypt's government faces food riots and discontent on the street, foreign investors keep on coming.

April 6 should have been a crowning moment for the Egyptian government and the economic reform package it launched shortly after taking office in 2004. But on the same day that Egypt’s tough-minded investment minister, Mahmoud Mohieldin, announced that the Egyptian economy had attracted a record US$11.1bn-worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) during the fiscal year 2006-07, a wave of discontent swept through the country in response to rising food prices, stagnant wages, and high unemployment.