Egypt Gears Up to Slow Its Birthrate

Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday unveiled a strategy to overcome the perils of a high birthrate threatening the world’s most populous Arab state.

He set out a five-point blueprint: protection of social stability, higher food production, desert reclamation, education reform and economic liberalization.

Addressing party supporters on the eve of the 37th anniversary of the 1952 revolution that overthrew the monarchy and ended British occupation of the country two years later, Mubarak said overpoulation is the single biggest obstacle to economic development

“Everything we do (in development) is eaten up by population growth,” the Egyptian leader said.