Population increase hinders economic reforms: El-Said

CAIRO – 29 July 2017: The biggest challenge that diminishes the results of the economic reform program is the increase in population, Minister of Planning Hala el-Said said on Saturday.

She said that the increase in population hinders the government’s efforts of economic reform and that if the rate of increase continued at 2.4 percent, Egyptians will not feel any improvement.

She added that Egypt needs to go back to pre-revolution levels of 1.5 percent.
The minister said that if the current increase rate was 1.5 percent, citizens would have felt the results of the economic reforms by now.

Egypt has embarked on a bold economic reform program in 2014 that includes cutting subsidies and introducing new taxes to rein in a gaping budget deficit.

The program was crucial for the country to clinch a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The measures taken by the government as part of this program have hiked prices across the board, with the government assuring citizens that the tough road will lead to a better economic situation on the medium and long term.