Gov’t privatization plans get more parliamentary pushback: The Senate is this week set to discuss a report in which it calls for the government to reconsider plans to fully exit from certain sectors of the economy, according to Yasser Zaki, deputy chairman of the Senate’s financial and economic affairs committee.

What report? The Senate doesn’t debate the annual budget — but it can debate the adjacent sustainable development plan and budget from the Planning Ministry. Both budgets are currently making their way through the House of Representatives. The Senate will use its financial committee’s report on the Planning Ministry’s budget to discuss some reps’ objections to the wider privatization plan, which is set to see the government fully withdraw from as many as 79 industries over the next three years as part of plans to restructure the economy in favor of the private sector.

What they said: “We think that the state’s dominant role, going hand in hand with the private sector, should be maintained in order for the country to be able to stand up to global economic crises, absorb their shock and mitigate their negative impact on vulnerable classes,” the report reads. It also calls on state-owned industrial firms to be restructured to maximize exports and foreign-denominateed earnings, “instead of privatizing or selling off these companies.”

REMEMBER- This is all part of the normal cut and thrust of parliamentary politics (and some reps don’t love to hear the word “privatization”). Some MPs in the House of Representatives have also been voicing their opposition to the state’s plans to sell stakes in state-owned assets to local and international investors — and any mention of privatization has long spooked a certain segment of elected officials. And remember, the impetus on this is coming from Ittihadiya, so it is unlikely to be swayed by the opposition.