Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said has revealed that the investment plan for fiscal year (FY) 2021/22 targets a growth rate of 5.4%.
El-Said noted that the growth rate expectations come as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will be contained by mid-2021, as a result of the availability of vaccines against the virus.
The minister’s remarks came, on Monday, as she outlined the FY 2021/22 investment plan at a plenary session of the Senate.
She said that the third section of the plan reviews the overall picture of the economic balance on the hypothesis of Egypt’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and its economic repercussions by the end of 2021.
El-Said explained that production is expected to gradually turn around, and presented the variation in growth rates across all sectors according to their degree of flexibility and their response to “stimulus” initiatives.
The minister also reviewed the volume of total resources that are expected to be made available, and their uses in the plan. She also provided estimates of output, local production, and economic growth and their rates.
El-Said added that the plan targets the implementation of the structural reform programme, and the continued adoption of financing packages and incentive policies.
This would also see efforts made to: rationalise public spending; implement the national projects plan; stabilise economic conditions; improve performance indicators; and grow international institutions’ confidence in the Egyptian economy.
The minister noted that the sectoral distribution of the estimated production for the FY 2021/22 plan shows that fast-growing sectors include: restaurants; hotels and telecommunications; construction and building; petroleum; the Suez Canal; health; and educational services.
Concerning the relative contributions of both the private sector and the government sector, El-Said explained that the private sector is expected to contribute about 68% of the total domestic production in FY 2021/22.
There will also be an increase in the contribution to agricultural, tourism, real estate, industrial, and construction activities, with contributions ranging from about 85% and 100%.
