The Coordinating Council for fiscal and monetary policies recommended reducing the state budget deficit to less than 10% through the activation of investments. In addition, the council proposed applying financial and structural reforms to achieve financial and monetary stability, according to a cabinet statement. The council met on Sunday, with the attendance of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer, economic expert Mohammed El-Eryan and the Ministers of Finance, Investment, and Industry. The attendees agreed on the importance of creating and applying a programme that aims for macroeconomic stability, aiming to boost economic growth, increase local production and create job opportunities. This falls under the coordination between financial and fiscal policies to reduce the budget deficit, according to the statement. Maintaining prices and decreasing the deficit in the balance of payment marked some of the procedures that were determined in the meeting to maintain macroeconomic stability. Ismail demanded the resolution of all the obstacles for the allocation industrial lands, as well as simplifying the procedures for investors. He also demanded the issuance of new lands for industrial projects, activating the Mining Law in governorates and legalising the conditions of agricultural reclamation. Members of the council highlighted the necessity of encouraging small and medium projects, to encourage the youth to launch new projects through easy terms which the banking system will provide over the next four days. They further emphasised the importance of activating the stock market through new initial public offerings in the Egyptian Exchange, and presenting new strategies to attract the unofficial sector join the official system. Ismail asserted that the next period will witness efficient coordination with parliament members, whereby the government will present some laws that it prepared to issue the required legislations. At the the top of these laws comes the Value Added Tax Law. According to the statement, "the Council will continue meet on a monthly basis to follow up on and implement these recommendations".
