20110718
Reuters
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt picked a new finance minister on Sunday as part of a cabinet reshuffle demanded by protesters camped out in central Cairo, and the outgoing minister said policy-making had become "confused".

Samir Radwan, the outgoing minister, will be replaced by Hazem el-Beblawi, who was picked on Saturday as an economic adviser and one of two deputies to Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.

"Goodbye. The rest will soon follow," one Egyptian, Mohamed Essam, wrote on the cabinet's website. Another, Abou Hanafy, wrote on Twitter: "Let the season of resignations begin."

Egyptians ended Hosni Mubarak's 30 years in power on February 11, but many are frustrated that the ruling army council has not moved faster to shake up the system and purge the ex-president's officials. Radwan was appointed shortly before Mubarak left.

Sharaf has yet to announce his new cabinet but the ministers of finance, industry and foreign affairs have all now quit. The justice, interior, education, culture and information ministers could stay, the official news agency said.

Sharaf promised a reshuffle as one of several concessions offered by him and the army to placate protesters. But demonstrators have stayed in Cairo's Tahrir Square since July 8 and also protested in other cities, increasingly directing their anger at the army.

An army general, Tarek el-Mahdy, addressed the crowd in Tahrir on Saturday. Witnesses said dozens of angry protesters heckled him to leave the podium.

Radwan, who said he had quit and would be replaced by Beblawi, told Reuters the policy-making situation had become "confused" and he believed it best to "leave the way for somebody to handle it in a consistent and coherent manner".

"People don't know what they want. Do they want increased expenditure and no borrowing from abroad? Everybody has suddenly become an expert on financial policy. That is not an atmosphere conducive to efficient work," Radwan said.

Radwan had negotiated a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to help cope with a spiralling budget deficit. But after reaching a deal, Egypt said in June it no longer needed the money.

Radwan said the budget had been revised to cut the deficit in response to demands for a national dialogue and concerns in the ruling military council about building up debts. Economists have questioned some of the budget assumptions.

CONFIDENCE

An Egyptian investment banker said Radwan lacked authority and the government needed to do more to outline its plans.

"The whole problem is that we're still in search of an economic identity. So it doesn't really matter who's there, to a certain extent, because the headlines are not there," he said.

"It's a very worrying period. I think we'll end up all right, but after how long, and what will the ultimate bill be?" the banker said, asking not to be identified.

Industry Minister Samir el-Sayyad also quit on Sunday, the official news agency said. Foreign Minister Mohammed el-Orabi, in office for less than a month, said he was quitting on Saturday.

Prime Minister Sharaf had announced he had picked two deputies on Saturday, including Beblawi, 74, an adviser to the Arab Monetary Fund in Abu Dhabi and who will now also take on the finance portfolio.

"The first thing Beblawi needs to do is to reflect some confidence in his decisions, empowered by the legitimacy of the military council, and he has to think a bit like investors," Mohamed Seddiek, head of research at Prime Securities.

Beblawi, who studied in Paris, worked as professor of economics at the University of Alexandria until 1980.

He was then chief executive of the state Export Development Bank of Egypt and executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

In comments carried by al-Ahram portal online before being appointed finance minister, Beblawi said his priority was to "manage the transition period" and said there should be a cap on higher paid state employees.

"When I was asked to be the deputy prime minister, all that I asked for was to be allowed an executive space that is backed by information ... so that I can do my task based on studies and information," Beblawi said.

Alongside Beblawi, Sharaf appointed Ali al-Silmi of the liberal Wafd party as deputy in charge of political development and democratic transformation.