Egypt’s economy is “ad hoc” and “grand projects, though moving quickly, are doing nothing to address the underlying structural problems,” Mohamed El Meshad writes for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “In their efforts to address these underlying structural issues, Egyptian authorities are demonstrating that they have just as little vision as they do for the mega-projects,” El Meshad says, citing how the CBE raised interest rates to combat inflation, without regard to the impact on weakening investments. He closes with the grim notion that “the last time Egypt faced this kind of economic crunch and insolvency was in the late 1980s. The state was fast approaching bankruptcy… Short of another miracle, this regime will need to embark on significant and comprehensive structural change to remove impediments to development in the country in order to have any hope of achieving sustainable and equitable growth.”