CAIRO — “Privatization” is still a bad word in Egypt, carrying the stigma of the “privatization ministers” under the Mubarak regime. They sold state properties like factories, companies and facilities serving citizens such as power and gas distributors and phone companies to members of the disbanded National Democratic Party (Mubarak’s party) at low prices. On March 4, privatization knocked on Egypt’s door in a new form that has many experts alarmed.

Privatization has taken on a new form in Egypt’s economic life. On March 4, the Egyptian parliament amended 1980's Law No. 152, which established the Egyptian Railway Authority. The amendments gave the authority more power, including the role of making agreements with the private sector to outsource the building, managing, operating and maintaining of railways. Its ultimate goal is to improve and expand these services and increase investments.

On Feb. 22, the Egyptian government started studying a proposal to allow the private sector to manage underutilized state assets and projects, especially those reporting losses. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said in a press conference on the same day that the state is establishing a sovereign fund to manage these state assets and projects. He added that the fund's management will propose plans to develop the assets and projects by restructuring them and partnering with the private sector.

In a January 2018 report, Egypt’s Dostor quoted Transportation Minister Hisham Arafat as saying that the Egyptian Railway Authority’s accumulated debt has exceeded 40 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.3 billion).