Planning minister allocates LE 16M for Ismailia, Dakahalia

CAIRO – 27 May 2018: Planning Minister Hala el-Saeed approved on Sunday additional allocations for Ismailia and Dakahalia governorates, worth LE 16 million ($891,695) in the current fiscal year 2017/2018.

The minister clarified that about LE 10 million were allocated for Ismailia governorate in order to contribute to the completion of the workshops project in the future city, supporting the needs of the local units program.

A total of LE 6 million were allocated to connect the facilities in Dakahlia to the land of the investment area, according to the minster.

For Matrouh Governorate, Saeed has issued a decree to extend the period of implementing paving projects for three years.

She added that the ministry is working on the allocations to support the development projects in the governorates in order to attract more investments and to provide new job opportunities.

Planning Minister Saeed said earlier that Egypt directed around LE 26 billion of the government’s investments in the new fiscal year 2018/2019 to develop Upper Egypt’s governorates.

The minister also added that about LE 3 billion are directed to develop North and South Sinai Governorates.

Saeed stated that the Egyptian economy is now a job provider, stating that the average of the annual job opportunities reached 710,000 jobs in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, which contributed in reducing the unemployment rate to 11.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017/2018.

She expected the unemployment rate to continue to decrease gradually to record 10.4 percent during the fiscal year 2018/2019 and to achieve 8.5 percent by 2021/2022.

The Egyptian economy is now pushed by the investment rate instead of the consumption rate which is reflected on the growth rate to record 5.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017/2018, reaching the highest Egyptian growth rate since 2008/2009, the minister added.

Saeed said that Egypt’s growth rate pushed the government and international organizations to raise their expectations of the economic growth to 5.3 percent currently from 4.6 percent in 2017/2018 before implementing the reform program.

Egypt had embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, all with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.