Agricultural sector is allocated 5.9% of Egypt's public investments in FY2021/2022 budget

CAIRO – 2 August 2021: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development highlighted Monday that given that the current fiscal year is the fourth/last year of the medium-term plan for sustainable development (18/2019 - 21/2022), the agricultural sector has been allocated 5.9 percent of public investments budget.

That is equivalent to LE 73.8 billion, compared to about LE 43 billion spent in FY2019/2020, with an increase of LE39.5 billion.

The report of the ministry indicated that agriculture's share in the gross domestic product is 15%, about 25% in the total labor force, and about 18% in the proceeds of total commodity exports.

The report added that in recognition of the importance of the agricultural sector, the plan for FY2021/2022 continues its adoption of efforts aimed at enhancing the economy of the sector and maximizing the added value and financial returns for farmers by improving performance levels, raising production and marketing efficiency, rationalizing the use of inputs, in particular water resources, and improving soil properties.

The report referred to the agricultural sector’s goals in the plan for FY21/2022, which are represented in increasing agricultural production at current prices to about LE 1.1 trillion, with a growth rate of more than 9%, compared to about LE1.022 trillion expected in FY2020/2021, in addition to increasing agricultural GDP at current prices by a rate 11% to reach about LE821 billion in FY21/2022, compared to about LE 673 billion in FY2019/2020 while the expected amount in FY2020/2021 is LE 740 billion.

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, explained that the agricultural sector and the related activities of cattle, pourtly, and fish production are the main source of food, as well as the inputs of the industrial sector.

This sector is characterized by its wide geographical scope to include different governorates, and by absorbing the largest part of the workforce in rural areas. Its position in the national economy is also reinforced by the strength of its interconnectedness with other economic sectors, especially the sectors of transportation, storage, trade, and manufacturing.

El-Said added that the COVID-19 pandemic showed the great importance that the agricultural sector occupies, as it contributed significantly to fulfilling the food needs of citizens without the emergence of bottlenecks in the markets, and also played an important role in strengthening the trade balance by exploiting the export opportunities provided by the crisis to access new markets beside traditional markets.