Abu Dhabi ( CNN ) -- The new President of Egypt is taking the concept of getting work done in the first 100 days in office very seriously . Mohamed Morsy forced out the long-serving head of the military Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi , his number two , and a handful of other generals . At the same time , Morsy nullified the constitutional declaration made by the military council before he took office June 30th . His message is clear . And while the military wanted to sustain its grip on power , Morsi was able to wrestle control after what was seen as a military lapse in the Sinai . Morsy is taking a bold stand , ordering counter attacks against militant hideouts over the weekend near al-Arish in Northern Sinai , after 16 border guards were killed in a surprise attacks when they were breaking fast at sundown during Ramadan . But the president is going down a tricky road . Mohammed Al Issis , a political economist at the American University in Cairo , said Morsy 's strategy is particularly difficult since it is `` not clear who the enemy is. `` Recent events , he said , provided an early indication of where the Sinai is headed . The attacks , and changes at the top in the military , have far reaching implications -- not the least of which is the attempted rebuilding of the Egyptian economy . Nearly a year and a half after the uprisings against the 30 year rule of Hosni Mubarak , Egypt is struggling to find its footing . The Sinai may be vast , but scenes of attacks in the north have real potential to spook tourists who were just getting comfortable with coming back to Red Sea resorts in the south . Blog : Was Clinton 's Egypt visit a mistake ? Tourism is the number one foreign exchange earner in the country , but revenues dropped in 2011 to just under $ 9 billion , from $ 12.5 billion the year before the uprisings . The southern Sinai , especially Sharm El Sheikh , is the main foreign tourist destination . There is a genuine cash crunch , with foreign exchange reserves at roughly $ 14 billion -- half the level of early 2011 . Strategists say the cash will last only four months if revenues do n't start coming in at a faster pace . The Egyptian government is still pegging growth during the current fiscal year at 3.5 % to 4 % , but economists who closely track the Middle East and North Africa region , known as MENA , are beginning to mark down expectations . Alia Moubayed , of Barclays , says the security challenge `` not only puts the recovery in this particular region on negative outlook , but highlights the volatility of the challenges that this new government and president will face . '' Strategically , it was thought that Morsy and Tantawi could work together against a common enemy in the Sinai . This was expected to include Bedouin tribal leaders who also want to bring their territory under control . That plan moves ahead , but Tantawi and his team are not part of it . Read more : With global instability , who wants to be a tourist ? The new president wants to get this military challenge under control -- hence the strong and quick use of force -- so he can focus on the bigger picture , which remains hazy . The International Monetary Fund mission is still planning to visit Egypt this month to jump-start negotiations on a $ 3.2 billion loan program . Talks took place last spring but there was reluctance to push ahead with that program until a government was in place with a new plan of action . Knowing the importance of Egypt to the broader region , Gulf players with ample oil and gas revenues are stepping up funding . Qatar has said it would inject $ 2 billion into the Egyptian Central Bank , and Saudi Arabia earlier this year pledged a billion dollars . Candidate Morsy campaigned on delivering what he called a Renaissance Project for Egypt , an economic blueprint that engages wider swaths of society . One of the key criticisms of the Mubarak regime was that the reform program started too late in the middle of the last decade and then trickled down too slowly . London based Arabia Monitor , commenting after attacks in Sinai , said the new government `` faces the difficult challenge of striking the right balance between propping up the economy , achieving fiscal consolidation , and improving the socio-economic conditions that helped overturn the old order . '' The budget deficit could top 9 % this year , but most agree this is not the time for austerity . It is a time to wrest back control of the trouble spot on the volatile border with Israel and Gaza and get Egyptians back to work , and the economy growing again .
Morsy 's actions towards the military show he is taking a bold stand . But these changes have far reaching implications , including on the economy . Attack scenes in the Sinai also have potential to spook tourists . Comment: