CAIRO – Egyptian Minister of International Co-operation Rania el-Mashat said the Egyptian economy’s flexibility in confronting the coronavirus impact over the past two years have been crystallised in maintaining the growth and employment rates, citing the report of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which projected Egypt to lead the economic recovery in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region with a growth rate of 4.2 per cent in 2021 and 4.4 per cent in 2022.
These remarks were made by Mashat during her participation on the second day of the 7th round of Banks’ Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) under the title of “How the Egyptian Economy Survived the Trap of International Recession”.
The minister shed light on the multilateral co-operation aspects between Egypt and its development partners based on the government plan of action carried out under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi with the aim of enhancing economic ties and meeting the priorities of the state’s development plans along with expanding participation of the private sector in all fields.
Despite the high demand on international funding amid the coronavirus crisis, especially the low-cost development finances, the state’s development plans embraced by the Egyptian government managed to clinch development deals worth dlrs 9.8 billion in 2020 in the various sectors, noting that this year has been crowned with positive indicators and outcomes that will be announced soon, the minister added.
As per the private sector, the development funding deals with development partners exceeded dlrs 4.5 billion over the past two years as bank credit facilitations reallocated such funding to the small- and medium-scale projects in addition to issuing green bonds for the private sector through the Commerical International Bank (CIB), Mashat said.
Mashat also said that the total funding of the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) reached dlrs 720 million which have been channeled to back the state’s efforts to achieve comprehensive recovery and sustainable growth through three main pillars; the enhancement of an all-out financial sustainability, propelling the participation of the private sector in the digital and financial inclusion as well as pushing forward women empowerment through a set of legislative and organizational reforms.
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