Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance stated that Egypt plans to invest about $663 million in new industrial projects. The new investment will be channelised to construct new industrial complexes across the country to boost exports of Egypt-made products. Out of the planned outlay,$300 million will be earmarked for the construction of 13 new industrial complexes while the remaining funds will finance a program to boost Egyptian exports.
Egyptian economy has been going through a severe recession and high inflation since the pound (local currency) was floated. Egypt entered into a three-year $12 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund in November 2016.As part of the deal, it has been implementing economic reforms such as value-added tax, cuts to energy subsidies and a steep currency devaluation. According to a report announced bythe Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics last May, Egypt’s trade deficit declined by 24.6% year on year, from $4.42 billion in May 2018, to $3.32% billion in May 2019.The program is expected to boost the government’s job creation strategy in a country where the unemployment rate was estimated at 8.1% in the first quarter of 2019.The government also proposes to reduce the government debt to GDP ratio to reach 77.5% by the end of June 2022, to cut down the country’s debt service.
