Sisi orders to decrease Egypt’s 2019/20 budget deficit, public debt

CAIRO – 3 January 2018: President Abdel Fatah al Sisi held a meeting on Thursday with the ministerial economic committee, in which he discussed the proposed budget plan for new fiscal year 2019/2020.

According to official statement issued by Presidential spokesman Bassam Radi, Sisi directed the committee to work on reducing the public debt and budget deficit in the new budget by continuing the implementation of the comprehensive economic reform program.

Radi added in his statement, that the proposed budget reflected the government’s plan to reduce the public debt rate as a percentage of GDP to reach 80-85% by the end of June 2022.

During the meeting, Sisi said that the economic reform program helps promote confidence in the Egyptian economy’s performance and ability to attract investments in a way that increases productivity rates and improves competitiveness, Rady added in the statement.

The meeting which was attended by prime minter Moustafa Madbuly, Ministers of Investment and International Cooperation, Planning and Follow-up and Administrative Reform, Finance, Trade and Industry, discussed the first draft of the proposed budget, along with reforming programs of education, improvement of health services, youth training and rehabilitation programs for the labor market, ensuring sustainable growth, providing adequate employment opportunities and avoiding any slowdown in economic activity.