FRA: Egyptian economy reaping fruits of reforms despite regional, int'l challenges

CAIRO - 28 January 2020: Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) Chairman Mohamed Omran said the Egyptian economy began to reap the fruits of the drastic reforms carried out by the government over the past few years despite of regional and international challenges.

Thanks to the Egyptians' will, the economy is back on the right track and has realized a growth rate of 5.6 percent, the highest in the region, he said during a press conference on Tuesday on the launch of the FRA's annual report.

Omran said economic reforms contributed to realizing an initial budget surplus of 2 percent, noting that the net hard currency reserve hit a record of more than $45 billion by the end of 2019.

Omran said the value of securities issued at primary market stood at over LE 220 billion.

Investments of insurance funds registered at LE 75 billion in 2019 against LE 67 billion in 2018, he said.

He added that the authority has also worked on developing legislations of the financial sector in addition to issuing the first guide for non-banking financial activities and establishing a center for settling disputes of non-banking financial sector.

FRA has also established a sustainable development department and issued the first sustainability report by an Egyptian institution.