Egyptian government to accelerate implementation of public offerings programme: finance minister

Authorities determined to carry forward implementation of economic reforms

Minister of Finance Mohamed Moeit said that the Egyptian government is working on accelerating implementation of the public offerings programme in a manner that contributes to activate the Egyptian Stock Exchange, increase its market value, expand the base of ownership, and attract private investment.
The Egyptian government is determined to carry forward the implementation of the economic reforms, said Moeit at the inaugural session of the African Caucus of the IMF meeting on Sunday, reaffirming the importance of carrying on with the reforms and working on the development of human development, especially health, education, and culture, whereby the Egyptian citizen feels the return of the deep reforms taking place in Egypt.
Moeit stressed the importance of the high-level meetings of African Caucus 2018, which is currently being held in Sharm El-Sheikh, where this year's annual conference focuses on discussing issues related to the overall growth of the African continent, increasing contribution of private sector investments in the continent, and boosting African exports.
"The meetings aim at reaching unified proposals and policies that will help the African continent to deal effectively with the global and development challenges, as well as to present a unified view of the African countries' requests from international institutions, especially the IMF and the WB," mentioned Moeit.
The minister explained the Egyptian government's determination to continue implementing its comprehensive economic reform programme, noting, "We will build on the stability of macro-economic indicators represented in the growth rates that reached 5.3% in FY 2017/18 and the unemployment rate that recorded 10.6% in March 2018."
Moeit explained that the Egyptian government is working on enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy by adopting a flexible exchange rate system.
The government is working on eliminating obstacles that face private sector and export activities, said Moeit, noting that the government is using savings and surpluses resulting from the implementation of financial reforms on expenditure to improve the infrastructure and services provided to citizens, including the expansion of natural gas delivery network for homes and factories.
The government pays great attention to increasing citizens' access to clean water and establishing sewage networks to all cities and regions, said Moeit, noting that the Egyptian road networks is one of the most important projects, aiming at linking cities and new areas.
"We care about accelerating the implementation of the current expansions of the metro network in Cairo and improving the quality of services provided," added Moeit.
Representatives from many countries attended the inaugural session, including from Algeria, Sudan, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Comoros, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Sao Tome and Principe Islands, as well as senior officials from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and major economic powers affecting the continent's economy, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan.