Persian Gulf Aid Can't Fix Egypt

On the third anniversary of Egypt’s uprising against the 29-year reign of Hosni Mubarak, police killed 49 antigovernment protesters and Islamic militants shot down a military helicopter in the Sinai with a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile. Five soldiers died.

Political instability and a low-level insurgency against state security forces have become the norm in Egypt. Even so, the economy has staged a modest comeback since the army ousted the elected government of the Muslim Brotherhood, which had succeeded Mubarak. The World Bank predicts Egypt’s economy will grow about 2.3 percent in 2014, up from 1.8 percent in 2013. On Jan. 3, Fitch Ratings upgraded its rating on the government’s debt to stable for the first time since anti-Mubarak protesters jammed Tahrir Square in 2011.