President Mohamed Morsi stressed on Monday 21/1/2013 that the macroeconomic indicators of Egyptian economy are strong.

"The Egyptian economy is not fragile or weak and cannot be collapse as frequently reported," Morsi said during a meeting with Egyptian community in Riyadh.

He expressed no concern over the exchange rate of Egyptian pound, saying that "this does not mean that we have not any problems, but we are facing a real challenge which is how to overcome this transition."

"We did not suddenly discover that we have an economic problem, but before January 25 revolution, the foreign reserves reached up to $ 35 billion. That reserves dropped during 18 months following the revolution by $ 20 billion to reach $ 15 billion along with $ 3 billion which was spent by the military council," Morsi said.

He noted that the world respect only those who have the ability to produce, hailing the role played by the Egyptian experts in supporting the Egyptian economy.

Morsi hailed as positive the participation of Egyptian experts in presidential elections and referendum on Egypt's constitution.

He also lauded the increase in remittances from Egyptians expatriates during the past period.

The coming parliamentary elections should include a representative of Egyptian expats, Morsi stressed.

"Egypt is discussing with the concerned authorities in Saudi Arabia the possibility of establishing a branch of the National Bank of Egypt in Saudi Arabia," Morsi added.

Commenting on the security situation in Egypt, Morsi said "We would upgrade the capabilities of security forces to ensure the flow of investments into the country."

As for the Egyptian nationals detained in Saudi Arabia, Morsi said that the number of Egyptian detainees decreased to 24 persons only.

He commended Saudi King Abdullah for the care given to the Egyptian living in Saudi Arabia.