Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said Saturday 03/09/2022 that providing the basic needs of citizens represents a “presidential priority” despite all serious global challenges that severely pressure the state’s general budget.
“Just as Egypt passed the coronavirus crisis with no shortage of goods, we will also overcome the negative impact of the Ukrainian crisis,” he added during an open dialogue with university students, civil society representatives and lawmakers, held in Fayyoum to celebrate the success of Egypt’s participatory budgeting experiment.
The state, with its wise political leadership, is proceeding ahead on its development path, despite all the challenges faced by the world’s largest economies, the minister said.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is closely following up the government’s efforts to deal with the repercussions of global crises, and the resulting massive inflationary wave to reduce the burden on citizens as much as possible, he added.
Development projects will never be postponed, including the Haya Karima “Decent Life” presidential initiative, which is the largest funded, most influential and comprehensive project launched in this regard, Maait said.
The minister stressed the keenness to adopt societal dialogues on the budget to determine public spending priorities.
In FY 2021-22 the highest growth rate since 2008 was recorded by Egypt at 6.6% of GDP, compared to a global average of 3.2% for emerging economies, the minister said.
The budget deficit decreased from 13% in the 2012/13 fiscal year to 6.1% of GDP in the last fiscal year, thus making it below the average of emerging countries for the first time in years, he added.
Source: State Information Service Egypt