Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has affirmed the government’s commitment to achieving financial targets during the current fiscal year, which ends in June, despite the global challenges.
Maait said, in a statement on Tuesday, that the government targets to achieve a primary surplus of 1.5% of GDP during the current fiscal year, which will rise to 2.5% in the next fiscal year, in a way that contributes to reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio to less than 80% by 2026/2027, where the Ministry of Finance was able to maintain a primary surplus for the fifth year in a row, at a rate of 1.3% in June 2022.
The Minister of Finance was responding to what was published of inaccurate data in one of the news agencies as part of the fierce attack launched by the stalkers in Egypt, pointing out that the target budget deficit rate by the end of June 2023/2024 is 6.5% of the GDP, down from 6.8% in the fiscal year 2020/2021, but the expected budget deficit rate in the next fiscal year is 6.96% as a result of the rise in interest rates in the local and international markets and the increase in spending on social protection and meeting basic needs in light of the unprecedented rise in global prices of commodities, grains, food and fuel.
Maait reiterated his emphasis on the cohesion of the Egyptian economy, its ability to withstand and deal flexibly with global crises, saying: “The Egyptian economy is standing on its feet in the face of external shocks, and that Egypt will overcome these global challenges as many crises are, especially since we have a diversity of income sources, and are able to attract foreign direct investment.”
He pointed out that the Egyptian economy attracted large foreign investments during the first half of the current fiscal year, and also attracted financial resources from many international institutions. He added that the economy still has the ability to attract foreign inflows, and the measures taken by the government will enable the speedy return of the Egyptian economy to sustainable growth, explaining that the government IPO programme within the framework of the State Ownership Policy Document will open horizons for foreign investments.
