On the face of it, it was a statement of the obvious. When Hazem el-Beblawi, Egypt’s new finance minister, warned at the end of last month that lawsuits against foreign businesses were shaking market confidence in the country, he was expressing the sentiment of many investors. Additional remarks that the Arab spring had not been a boon for the economies of the region were also seemingly unsurprising.
Not, however, in Cairo. In the Egyptian capital his comments provoked a furore, with outrage pouring in online and in calls to television chat shows. How dare the minister criticise what popular opinion considers necessary justice against the corruption of the Hosni Mubarak era, or cast doubt on the achievements of the revolution that this year deposed the long-time president, the people charged.
Essam Sharaf, the prime minister, posted on his Facebook page on Monday in an attempt to calm the outcry, saying Mr Beblawi had no intention of undermining the revolution, which he insisted “We are all proud of.”
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