By: Ashraf Gaber*
In a moment of profound significance, and just before we turn the page on a year that was heavy on the shoulders of the Egyptian citizen, Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly released an unconventional article titled “Debt: Between the Peak Moment and the Correction Path.” It was not a recitation of achievements, as is customary in year-end speeches; rather, it was a direct engagement with the “elephant in the room” that keeps everyone awake: debt, high prices, and living pressures.
I read the Prime Minister’s article (which we published in English a short while ago) with the eye of a specialist searching between the lines, and the eye of a citizen waiting for a glimmer of hope. What stopped me was not the abstract figures about the decline in foreign debt or the major investment deals, but rather that “new tone” which admits that the pain is real, and that the citizen asking “Until when?” has every right to ask.
Messages of Reassurance and the “Legitimacy of the Asking”
It is a significant initiative for the Prime Minister to confirm, “personally,” that we are leaving the box of “we are the best” for the box of “we realize the magnitude of the pain.” Madbouly’s most important message was the admission that economic reform has a “harsh social cost,” and that good macroeconomic figures do not necessarily mean immediate prosperity in the citizen’s pocket.
However, the core of reassurance lies in the announcement of an imminent “package of exceptional measures” aimed at alleviating burdens. Here, the conversation shifts from fiscal theorizing to a direct political commitment to improving living standards, a “check” signed by the head of government to the citizens, payable in the coming days.
I was struck by the realistic tone with which the Prime Minister opened his address. Instead of drowning us in a sea of deaf numbers, Madbouly chose to touch the citizen’s wound directly when he stated:
“We fully realize that the issue of public debt, is no longer just numbers, but has become a legitimate question among citizens regarding the ability to continue and the limits of endurance in light of increasing living pressures.”
This admission of the “limits of endurance” is the cornerstone of building trust. The message here is clear: the State does not live in an ivory tower; it realizes that the bill for reform was steep for people’s pockets. Most importantly, it is his explicit promise that we are moving from “crisis management” to “solutions,” referring to a “package of exceptional solutions aimed at reducing pressures on public finances, which will be directly reflected in improving living conditions.”
The “Narrative” as a Framework for “Disclosure”
Madbouly’s article cannot be read in isolation from the dynamic movements of Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, who recently presented (on behalf of the government) what she termed the “National Narrative for Economic Development.”
If the Prime Minister speaks of “firefighting” (debt and liquidity), Al-Mashat speaks of “interior engineering” to ensure fires do not break out again.
The narrative presented by Al-Mashat, anchored in the “governance of public investments” and a focus on “human and industrial development,” intersects precisely with Madbouly’s proposition regarding the shift from “investing in stone” to “investing in humans.” We are facing a government that seems to be playing from the same sheet of music: Growth that people do not feel is growth of limited value.
Connecting “debt control” (Madbouly) with “quality of growth” (Al-Mashat) is the cornerstone that could make 2026 different. The state is no longer borrowing merely to build; it is restructuring its debts to fund factories and projects that create sustainable jobs, not just temporary employment in the construction sector.
While Madbouly asserts in his article that “Debt that pressures the budget is radically different from debt that is redirected or replaced by investment flows,” we find Al-Mashat translating this practically in her recent statements, emphasizing that the goal is “crowding in the private sector and leading growth that focuses on human and industrial development, not just asset expansion.”
This harmony between “correcting the financial path” and “economic growth quality” heralds that we are facing a unified economic mind managing the state, realizing that “human development does not happen in a vacuum”, as Madbouly noted, but also requires “sustainable and innovative financing,” as Al-Mashat consistently demands.
The New Year Credibility Test
However, far from excessive optimism, these theses remain “theoretical” unless the citizen touches them in the electricity bill, commodity prices, and the availability of services. Talk of a “correction path” is beautiful, but “correction” in the citizen’s dictionary means a drop in inflation and an increase in purchasing power.
Proposals for the Road Ahead
From our responsibility as a national media partner in development and a witness to it, I place before the decision-maker three points we deem essential to transform this “candor” and “narrative” into a lived reality:
- Transparency in “Protective Measures”: We expect the government, when announcing the anticipated social protection package, to be transparent in accurately defining the target groups. The middle class, which has eroded significantly, must be at the heart of these measures, not just the most vulnerable groups. Protecting the middle class supports societal stability and the purchasing power that drives the economy.
- Marketing “Success Stories,” Not “Abstract Numbers”: Within the framework of Dr. Al-Mashat’s narrative, we need to stop bombarding the citizen with billions of dollars and foreign investments. The citizen needs to know: How many factories opened? How many real jobs were created? How will “investment governance” lower commodity prices? We need a new economic language that addresses “people’s livelihood,” not “international institution indicators.”
- Unity of the Economic Team: The harmony we perceive between the Prime Minister’s proposition and the Minister of Planning must extend to the rest of the economic group, especially (Finance, Investment, and the Central Bank). Both the investor and the citizen need a single, clear message, not isolated islands.
Conclusion
Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly’s article announced the “Diagnosis,” and Dr. Al-Mashat’s narrative reassured us of the existence of the “Treatment.” We, at the gates of a new year, are waiting for the “Cure.”
The ball is now in the court of implementation. The Egyptian citizen, with their patience and awareness, deserves for 2026 to be a year of harvest, not another year of sowing and waiting for what never comes.
Ashraf Gaber; The Publisher and Editor in Chief
