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Leave room for private sector to flourish, IMF advises Egypt

The International Monetary Fund is cautioning Egypt not to allow its military-affiliated businesses to grow even larger at the expense of the private sector.
A worker is seen at the Helwan Company for Engineering Industries (Factory 99) in Cairo, Egypt July 6, 2017. Picture taken July 6, 2017.    To match Special Report EGYPT-MILITARY/ECONOMY    REUTERS/Stringer - RC19DBF6CF70
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CAIRO — Even as the Egyptian military is expanding its business dealings in various sectors, the International Monetary Fund is warning that it's time for the government to pull back its reach and allow the private sector room to grow.

The most recent expansion comes this week in the lucrative field of extracting minerals from black sand — an industry expected to generate billions of dollars. The military-affiliated Egyptian Black Sand Company (EBSC) signed a memorandum of understanding with a leading Chinese company Weiyuan Minerals on June 18 in a bid to boost EBSC efficiency in extraction.

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