Egypt’s Parliament Fights the Ink Monopoly and Goes Paperless

(Bloomberg) -- Egypt’s parliament will soon go paperless to reduce the financial burden on the government, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported Tuesday.

“I belong to the generation of the chalk and blackboard, and I use electronic gadgets,” Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal was quoted as saying, noting that “most members of parliament have higher degrees” and all are able to work with tablets.

Further explaining the move, Abdel-Aal said that one company “monopolizes the market for inks used in printing, and we can’t shoulder the high costs.”

Abdel-Aal said the move mirrors steps taken in other parliaments to go paperless. He didn’t specify how much the legislature was paying for ink or paper or how much the government would save.

Egyptian officials have been pushing to cut costs amid a broader effort to revive the economy. An International Monetary Fund-backed reform program calls for cutting state spending.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo at teltablawy@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Mark Williams

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