Egypt races against time to transition to digital economy: Minister

CAIRO - 23 February 2022: Egypt is racing against time to shift to the digital economy, in a way that contributes to facilitating the business community and stimulating investment, according to the Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait.

 

Maait elaborated that we [ the government] aim to complete all projects to develop and automate the tax and customs systems, by the end of next June.

 

He explained in a statement, that it helps in listing the tax community more accurately, and expanding the tax base, in order to maximize efforts to integrate the informal economy into the formal economy, and lay the foundations for tax justice, and fair competition in markets.

 

“We seek to reach a national product that reflects the real volume of business in Egypt; so that we can achieve economic and development goals, improve the standard of living of citizens, and improve the services provided to them,” he added.

 

In his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Mohamed Mahmoud Al-Asas, the minister added that the Egyptian experience in developing and mechanizing the tax and customs systems is based on the localization of distinguished global expertise, pointing out that Egypt succeeded, with the testimony of international financial and classification institutions, in adopting balanced financial policies that preserved the gains of the economic reform  program, and made the Egyptian economy more able to face the consequences of the Corona pandemic, which is, as described by the World Bank, the largest economic crisis the world has witnessed in a century.

 

The minister indicated that the indicators of financial performance during the first half were reassuring despite all the challenges that the global economy suffers from, from disruptions in supply chains, a sharp rise in inflation, and shipping costs, explaining that the average growth rate during the period from July to December 2021 amounted to 9 percent, which is the highest rate achieved in more than 20 years. 

 

He added that unemployment rate decreased to 7.4 percent at the end of last December, as a result of the expansion of mega development projects that embody the process of construction and reconstruction, in the "new republic" whose foundations were laid by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi; to provide a decent life that meets the aspirations of citizens.