Egypt’s decision to float its currency can already be declared a success, but it will take time for investment flows to return and revive the nation’s economy, says Orascom Development Holding boss Samih Sawiris. “Now the investment appetite has become bigger…people will start looking at the various opportunities given to them,” he tells Reuters’ Ahmed Aboulenein, but warns that we should not be over-enthusiastic or over-emotional.

Sawiris said that confidence in the flagging tourism sector is all about marketing from both the government and private sector. “We just need to spend a lot more trying to annihilate this bad image that was forcibly spread.”

The interview delved into Orascom’s low-income housing projects, where Sawiris had less than complimentary things to say about the government’s sidelining of the private sector. “Once the government goes into the market, everybody leaves the market because the government doesn’t make money, they spend money,” he said. “I believe governments should be regulators, not competitors. It’s quite sad.”