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Research Area Macroeconomics Publication Type Studies Author(s) - Dr. Amr Shiha - Mahmoud Abd Elfadil, PhD Publisher The Egyptian Cabinet - IDSC Publish Date January 2010 Abstract The issue of reducing the chronic deficit in the Egyptian trade balance in order to contain the effects of the global economic crisis on the Egyptian economy is one of the important issues on the agenda of the policy-maker. In this context, the study aims to identify the pattern of change in the structure of merchandise imports during the period (1994 - 2007) and the reasons underlying the surge of imports that occurred during that period. We also considered the recent developments in the level and composition of import commodities in 2008 - June 2009, to capture the effects of the global economic crisis on the behavior and composition of imports. For more finetuning, we constructed the indices of the quantities and prices of major commodity groups during the period (1994 - 2007) (according to the Fisher formula). Light was also shed on the institutional aspects; namely; the monopolistic structure of import markets of the major commodity groups. Finally, the study proposed a set of policies for the rationalization of imports in the Egyptian economy in the short and medium terms.