Mubarak tells new PM to keep subsidies, cut prices

President Hosni Mubarak told his prime minister on Sunday that Egypt's new government would preserve subsidies, control inflation and provide jobs, state television reported.

Protesters that have rocked Egypt complain about surging prices and the gap between rich and poor but have also called for a new political system. Mubarak's letter to his new prime minister skirted discussion of political reform. "I require you to bring back confidence in our economy," Mubarak wrote, state television said. "I trust your ability to implement economic policies that accord the highest concern to people's suffering." (Reuters)