The Economic Ministerial Committee discussed in a Tuesday meeting preparations for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit in early 2016.
The meeting was headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and attended by economic ministers and the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer. It tackled ongoing energy projects and the government investments in the upcoming fiscal year.
The ministers discussed the implementation of the Ataka Thermal Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant in Hamrawein and Ouyoun Mousa regions, and projects to support the national electricity grid by producing smart electricity metres.
They also discussed the estimates of the government’s investment in the fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017 and how they can link the value to targeted economic growth rates.
During the meeting, Minister of Transportation Saad El-Geoushy presented his national plan for the sector, which ends in 2018. It included the completion of Safaga Sea Port and establishing an import and export port in Upper Egypt, which will allow exporting to Africa, targeting 500 million consumers.
On Monday, the Egyptian government set its economic targets for FY 2016/2017, setting the budget deficit target at 9.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP), with expected an economic growth of 5%-5.5%.
Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian said the draft budget will be the first in five years to be reviewed by parliament.
In June, the World Bank issued a report in which it predicted that a 10% budget deficit for FY 2016/2017.
The draft budget predicts that rates of unemployment will decrease to 10% in comparison to the 12.7% recorded at the end of FY 2014/2015. Public debt is expected to range between 88% and 90% of GDP.
