Egypt to pursue work to achieve financial stability

Minister of Planning and Administrative Reform Ashraf al Arabi said the government will pursue work to achieve financial stability, reduce budget deficit and improve infrastructure to lure in more investments after Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC), set for March 13-15.
Interviewed by MENA, Arabi said sustained improvement of economic performance indicators could push up the expected growth rate for the fiscal year 2014-2015 from 3.8 percent to 4 percent, noting that such expectations were the outcome of an increase of the growth rate during the first half of the current fiscal year to hit 5.6 percent, compared with the same period of the previous year that reached 1.2 percent.
He made it clear that growth rate during the 1st quarter of the current year put at 6.8 percent compared with 1 percent during the same year of the past fiscal year.
Growth rate in the second quarter hit 4.3 percent compared with 1.4 percent in the year before, he added.
Such rates were the result of reform measures carried out by the government to improve the investment climate, he added.
Arabi also noted that EEDC will be a starting point for Egypt's march towards retaining its position at the investment map.
He said the conference will have an impact on influx of investments at both the local and foreign levels. It will send a message to the world that Egypt has adopted a comprehensive plan for reform.
A medium-term plan ranging from 3 to 5 years has been outlined to handle the policies adopted by the government in order to be able to improve infrastructure along with the completion of the roadmap plan, especially the parliamentary elections, he added.
He said EEDC will float projects in 10 sectors, including energy, housing, transport, industry, tourism, agriculture and communications. As many as 30 projects will be floated for investments with the involvement of the private sector, or through partnership between the public and private sector.
Source: MENA