Are we backing off energy-price liberalization? Finance Minister Amr El Garhy reportedly said yesterday the government does not intend to follow through with its energy-price liberalization program for the time being, according to Al Shorouk. He added that the government does not believe in trickle-down economics, preferring to support the most vulnerable elements of society directly, a hint we’re reading as presaging the expansion of the government’s cash assistance program for the poor. Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had signaled before the cabinet shuffle that brought El Garhy into office that the government would be slowing the pace at which subsidies are being phased out, but it’s the first time we remember a finance minister making an even oblique acknowledgement that a cash entitlement system may be necessary to protect the poor. Garhy, speaking at a lobby group meeting in Washington attended by senior Egyptian business leaders, also refrained yesterday from wading into the murky waters that are Egypt’s FX policy, saying the shortage of hard currency in Egypt is “an issued controlled by the Central Bank of Egypt.” The minister also noted that the government is now led by a “strong” team working “in harmony.”