New comprehensive public debt reduction strategy to be finalized by Q1 2025: Kouchouk

Cairo – December 9, 2024: A new “comprehensive and balanced” medium-term public debt reduction strategy is expected to be finalized and announced within the first quarter of 2025, according to Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk.

Kouchouk emphasized that Egypt’s immediate goal is to reduce the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 85 percent by the end of the current fiscal year during an economic conference on Monday.

During the conference, Kouchouk outlined three key priorities for the government’s economic agenda.

The first priority is to foster trust and partnership between the business community, financiers, and the entities within the Ministry of Finance, such as tax and customs authorities. The government is focusing on improving services for businesses, and a series of new tax facilitation measures have already been introduced.

Kouchouk explained, regarding the second priority, that a significant portion of the latest tax reform package are already being implemented. This includes the trial operation of a central settlement system, as well as the approval of a simplified tax system for entrepreneurs with annual revenues of up to LE 15 million.

The third priority being reducing Egypt’s domestic and external government debt, with Kouchouk mentioning that there has been significant progress in this area through major investment deals signed in the past year.

The FinMin also shared details about an ambitious new export support program being developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade. The program is set to launch in July 2025, with Kouchouk describing it as “strong and ambitious” enough to boost Egypt’s export sector and enhance export returns.

The package will include settling all overdue export support payments to companies and offering greater flexibility in managing the export file, he explained.

The government is keen on providing various incentives to stimulate economic activities, with a focus on long-term sustainability and growth, he added, in line with the broader goals outlined in Egypt's three-year economic program (2024–2027) announced in September.