Will Egyptian parliament cut into the military's profit margin?
The Egyptian army’s strength may hinder any attempt at limiting its economic activities.
Egypt's politicians are preparing to do battle against its army. A number of lawmakers in the country's recently elected parliament are working on laws designed to provide answers to questions about the army's money and its place in the national budget.
“Armies are the basis of the administration and the administration is everything,” Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Nasr said at a conference four years ago on the role of the Egyptian Armed Forces (EAF) in supporting the economy through the institution’s many projects. At the same conference, held in Cairo and organized by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, he stressed that the so-called "army economy" is not derived from state funds, but rather from returns on Ministry of Defense projects.
