Egypt’s PM wants to boost private sector investments

Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said on Sunday he wanted the private sector to account for 65 percent of all investements in the country within three years, up from around 30 percent at present.

He also said in a press conference that the government aims to decrease total debt to 75 percent of gross domestic product in the next four years from 86 percent currently, and the budget deficit to 5 percent from 6.2 percent.

Madbouly said that the country aims to achieve a primary surplus of about 1.5 percent in the current fiscal year that ends in June 2022, which would rise to 2 percent of GDP over the next four years.

PM Madbouly added in the televised conference that Egypt has strategic reserves of wheat sufficient to cover its needs for four months, 

Egypt also has strategic reserves of vegetable oils to cover six months, he said.

He went on to say that Egypt expects to reach a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ‘within month’.

In March, Egypt said it was in talks with the IMF about potential funds in addition to technical support to hedge against the economic effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, should it be prolonged.

During the press conference, Madbouly stated that the direct and indirect costs of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the Egyptian budget is estimated to be 465 billion Egyptian pounds ($25.3 billion) annually.

Direct impact of the war on the Egyptian budget is estimated at 130 billion Egyptian pounds annually, while the cost of the indirect effect amounted to around 335 billion Egyptian pounds annually, he explained. 

(With inputs from Reuters)