Creating a market economy through policy reform
Faced with declining economic growth, high inflation, and shrinking foreign reserves, policymakers in Egypt realized that they had to create a market economy from the remnants of a 40-year-old command economy.
In 1991, the government began reducing its involvement in the economy and encouraging reliance on market mechanisms through a series of reforms. Nathan Associates helped strengthen the government’s ability to formulate trade policy and regulatory reforms through the Development and Economic Policy Reform Analysis (DEPRA) project.
Making Economically Effective Reforms
We supported decision makers by (1) demonstrating the economic benefits of policy reforms and the costs of postponing reforms, and (2) enabling their staff to analyze and implement economically effective policy reforms.
We helped the government
- Research policy reform and formulate new policy;
- Collect, organize, and analyze economic information;
- Prepare studies of economic issues and advisory reports for policymakers;
- Develop human resources and provide training for policy reform; and
- Improve facilities and infrastructure related to economic policy.
Our experts worked extensively with the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Trade and Supply, advising them on economic policy and developing their ability to conduct research and make recommendations.
Conducting Research for Reform
Our policy reform research, ranging from ad hoc memoranda to large complex studies, covered international trade issues, legal and financial infrastructure, foreign direct investment, small business development, and many other topics.
Our goal?
Give policymakers a sound basis for their decisions.