‘World is in dire need of economic cooperation’

CAIRO – Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has said the world is in dire need of economic cooperation with a view to facing the current double global shocks and the huge pressures experienced by the global economy.

This requires developed countries to speed up assistance to developing ones to help them confront relevant repercussions in a way that contributes to achieving the sustainable development goals, the minister added.

Maait made the remarks during his meeting with G7 finance ministers on the fringes of the 2022 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) currently held in Washington, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance on Friday.

Had it not been for Egypt’s success in implementing its economic reform program, the situation would have been more complicated with regard to the COVID-19 crisis and then the war in Europe with their common challenges and very dangerous repercussions which extended to the basic needs of citizens around the world, Maait said.

“We are committed to continuing the path of achieving financial discipline through continuing work on setting priorities in a way that contributes to enhancing the efficiency of public spending and targeting sectors of national priority,” the minister added.

This comes within the framework of the Egyptian State’s keenness to exert the maximum possible effort to mitigate the current global crisis and the negative effects of the global inflationary wave, he noted.