Towards an economic roadmap MINISTERS making up the economic team of Prime Minister Hazem Al-Beblawi's cabinet met on Monday to decide on an economic and social roadmap for the coming period. The details of the plan are due to be revealed by the end of this month. According to Ashraf Al-Arabi, the minister of planning, the targeted growth rate for fiscal year 2013-2014 is now 3.5 per cent, compared to 2.2 per cent in 2012/2013. Al-Arabi said that the cabinet was revaluating its financial needs in the light of the recent influx of foreign aid. This figure had previously stood at $19.5 billion until the end of June 2015. Ministry cooperation on smart cards A COOPERATION agreement has been announced between the ministries of finance and the interior and the E-Finance Company to operate the country's new smart-card system to distribute subsidised fuel. According to a ministry statement, the second phase of the smart-card programme that will distribute cards for vehicles powered by both petrol and diesel fuel was started in July. The statement added that the government had launched a website, www.esp.gov.eg, that would process applications for the cards. The first phase of the programme, including issuing cards for trucks and petrol stations and building a database of companies and depots for fuel distribution, has already been implemented. TE keeps stake in Vodafone TELECOM Egypt (TE), the country's sole fixed-line telecoms operator, has denied reports that it has had to sell its stake in Vodafone Egypt in order to obtain a license for mobile services. A company press release noted that it had not received any official notification with regard to a sale and that there was no legal obligation for it to divest its holdings in Vodafone Egypt, the country's second-largest mobile operator by number of subscribers, in order to gain a mobile license. TE owns 45 per cent of Vodafone Egypt. The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said earlier this year that it planned to issue a single licence allowing TE to provide mobile phone services, while also allowing the three existing mobile operators — Mobinil, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Misr — to provide landline services. World's largest ship in Suez Canal THE SUEZ Canal last week saw the crossing of the world's largest container ship, the Maersk McKinney Moller, which is making its first voyage from the Far East to Europe. Head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish said that the crossing proved that the canal was able to handle all kinds of container ships. On the same day as the crossing, the Suez Canal saw record traffic flows, with 68 ships making the crossing, the highest number this year, with a total cargo of 4.8 million tons, Mamish said. The canal's revenues dropped by four per cent during the first half of 2013 to some $2.4 billion, down from $2.5 billion during the same period in 2012. The number of ships passing through the canal also dropped during the first half of 2013 by 6.6 per cent compared to the previous year.
