Egypt’s informal economy reaches LE 1.6 trillion: PM

CAIRO – 16 September 2017: The size of Egypt’s informal economy has reached LE 1.6 trillion, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said in press statements Saturday.
Egypt is seeking to integrate the informal economy into the formal one, and to include them financially.

During the ninth Global Policy Forum, which kicked off in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh Thursday, President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi confirmed Egypt’s keenness to become a “leading” country in the field of financial Inclusion.

He said that the government seeks to include all citizens financially in a bid to reduce the size of informal economy.

During the forum, Minister of Planning and Administrative Development Hala al-Said said that the informal sector contributes about 40% to Egypt’s GDP.

She said that the informal sector must be encouraged to enter the formal economy to support economic growth by providing bank financing for micro, small and medium enterprises.

The two-day forum stressed on the importance of financial inclusion and discussed ways to achieve it.

Financial inclusion aims to ensure that all individuals or entities in society can find financial products suitable for their needs at reasonable prices and through properly regulated channels.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has launched an initiative in April that aims to bring a larger number of individuals and companies under the umbrella of the banking system.

Under the initiative, the CBE directed the country’s banks to reach out to customers and present banking products that could suit them.