Egyptian sustainable development targets investment of LE 942.2B

CAIRO - 25 June 2018: The medium-term of sustainable development plan aims to reach a total investment of LE 942.2 billion during the fiscal year 2018/2019, according to the Planning Ministry.

The ministry clarified in a press statement that the commodity sector allocates 46 percent of these investments, while the productive sectors account for 24 percent and the service sectors takes 30 percent of the investments.

Planning Minister Hala el-Saeed said earlier that Egypt directed around LE 26 billion of the government’s investments in the new fiscal year 2018/2019 to develop Upper Egypt’s governorates.

The minister also added that about LE 3 billion are directed to develop North and South Sinai Governorates.

Saeed stated that the Egyptian economy is now a job provider, stating that the average number of annual job opportunities reached 710,000 jobs in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, which contributed in reducing the unemployment rate to 11.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017/2018.

She expected the unemployment rate to continue to decrease gradually to record 10.4 percent during the fiscal year 2018/2019 and to achieve 8.5 percent by 2021/2022.

The Egyptian economy is now pushed by the investment rate instead of the consumption rate which is reflected on the growth rate to record 5.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017/2018, reaching the highest Egyptian growth rate since 2008/2009, the minister added.

Saeed said that Egypt’s growth rate pushed the government and international organizations to raise their expectations of the economic growth to 5.3 percent currently from 4.6 percent in 2017/2018 before implementing the reform program.

Egypt had embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, all with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.