CAIRO – Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maeet said Monday that Egypt is looking forward to continued co-operation with the US to achieve the sustainable development goals, especially in light of the global economic crisis.
Addressing a conference on alternative financing opportunities in Egypt, Maeet urged global financial institutions and markets to reduce the cost of green finance to encourage developing countries to adapt to the current climate and international change.
The government is seeking to achieve an initial surplus of 132 billion pounds, i.e. 1.5 per cent, and to reduce the overall deficit to 6.1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), Maeet said.
He added that Cairo is also eyeing a sustainable downward path of the debt rate to less than 75 per cent of the GDP within the coming four years.
The government aims to reduce the debt rate to 84 per cent of the GDP compared to 103 per cent at the end of June 2016, and reduce the debt service ratio to 7.6 per cent of the GDP and 33.3 per cent from budget expenditures, Maeet said.
He added that his Ministry aims to lay the foundations of a suitable environment for rapid economic recovery from the current global crisis, ensuring the completion of the construction and development process and improving the lives of citizens.
The new draft budget allocates 376 billion pounds for public investments, with an annual growth rate of 9.6%, Maeet told the conference, noting that this should help improve services provided to citizens and create more jobs for youth, while increasing environment-friendly projects to 50 per cent.
The minister touched upon a diverse stimulus package, through which the government seeks to achieve economic recovery from the repercussions of the current global crisis, and to contain its negative effects.
This, he noted, includes the unprecedented inflationary wave, the supply chains crisis, increased freight costs, or higher prices of goods and services.
Great effort is done with the aim to encourage investment and maximize local production, the minister said, citing a package of tax and customs incentives that supports the national industry.
For example, special attention is paid to attracting more investors interested in manufacturing electric cars, among other vital sectors, such as information technology and digitisation, he explained.
Maeet added that the Egyptian government is also working on improving the infrastructure and accelerating the pace of growth, through expanding the participation of the private sector in economic activities.
Such approach is meant to strike a balance between the participation of the private sector and the public sector in economic activity, he told the conference.
It stipulates that the state will exit some activities to allow private sector investments to grow, upping its contribution to 50 per cent of the GDP within the coming three years, the minister said.
A number of companies owned by all state sectors will be offered in the stock market in the coming stage with the aim to attract more private sector investments, Maeet further said.
