Egypt's total public investments reached 80 billion Egyptian pounds ($4.5 billion) during the first quarter of financial year 2018/2019 , with government investments of about 27.4 billion pounds, said Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed on Saturday. Most of the government investments have been directed to develop infrastructure, the minister added in her speech at the opening session of the 5th Akhbar Al Youm Economic Conference, which kicked off on Saturday evening and is expected to last for two days. A total of 18 percent of these investments have been allocated to the sector of construction and public utilities, while the transport sector and electricity sector have been provided with 13 percent and 11 percent of the investments, respectively, Saeed said. In addition, 7 percent of these investments were directed to the health and education sectors with public investments exceeding 5 billion pounds, she added. The minister stressed the state's keenness on supporting SME sector by implementing the CBE's initiative to allocate 2 billion pounds to finance small and medium-sized enterprises, beside increasing the Upper Egypt-allocated investments to 26 billion pounds from 22 billion pounds in previous years. Egypt has achieved positive growth rates in all economic sectors, driven by the leading the growth of foreign direct investment sector, al-Saeed said. She affirmed the industry sector's vital role in achieving sustainable development and applying Egypt Vision 2030. The minister said reforming the administrative apparatus is the cornerstone in achieving the national program for economic and social reform. Source: MENA & Ahram Online
