[Egypt] Economy pandemic losses top $23.6b, eyeing 7% growth over next three years

Egyptian economic losses arising from the pandemic have reached 370 billion Egyptian pounds ($23.6 billion).

Finance minister Mohamed Maait also revealed the country’s deficit for the current fiscal year is about 500 billion Egyptian pounds, while overall debt is within 88 percent of GDP, Al Arabiya reported.

“More than 100 billion Egyptian pounds have been spent to support the sectors affected by the pandemic,” he said.

He said that 132.5 billion Egyptian pounds had been transferred from the state treasury to the Insurance and Pensions Fund between July and March of the fiscal year 2020/2021.

Egypt has spent 388.5 billion Egyptian pounds on social protection programs, over the period, representing a 17 percent increase on a year earlier.

Egypt was targeting economic growth between 6-7 percent in the next three years, Al Arabiay reported Tuesday citing the Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

The country aims at reducing the total budget deficit to 5.5 percent in 2023-2024, and targets a 6.7 percent GDP growth over 3 years added Madbouly, during a conference to announce the second phase of the economic reform program.

He added that Egypt had already achieved an initial surplus of 2 percent, but it retreated due to the pandemic, and that it aspires to return to those levels.

The Egyptian Prime Minister affirmed that the government will continue to support food supplies for the next three years.

The new stage of the reform process will introduce radical changes to the economic system to achieve sustainable growth rates and improve the standard of living, said Gehan Saleh, adviser to Egyptian prime minister for economic affairs.

The aim is to improve the quality of life and eliminate unemployment through consistent policies to create jobs and attract investment, she added, during a session of the eighth Alexandria Economic and Administrative earlier this month.

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