Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait stated that "were it not for the strong and supportive political will of the government, we would not have succeeded in the elaborate implementation of the economic reform programme in a manner that won the praise of international financing and classification institutions." Maait said that the Egyptian economy has been able to deal flexibly with the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing global challenges related to the sharp increase in inflation rates as well as supply chain disruptions. The minister added that the Egyptian economy is fine and has become more capable of meeting financial performance indicators that exceed expectations of international financial and rating institutions. He explained that Egypt has achieved an initial surplus of EGP 3.2bn in its state budget during the first half (1H) of the current FY 2021/22 despite the unprecedented increase in spending, which is reflected in the amount of funding for mega projects that created millions of job opportunities. Additionally, the state has provided sufficient funding to implement government investments — such as the "Decent Life" initiative — increase the wages of state agencies' staff, provide sufficient allocations to subsidy, implement social protection programmes, and increase allocations to the health and education sectors. Furthermore, the minister pointed out that the value of investments funded by the state's public treasury increased during the 1H of FY 2021/22 to reach about EGP 82bn, compared to same period of the previous FY's EGP 73bn — an annual growth rate of 12%. He added that the government is aiming to decrease the budget deficit to 6.7% in June, in light of the actual performance during the period from July to December 2021. The minister also stressed that the Egyptian economy has proven to the whole world during the past five years its solidity and cohesion in the face of global challenges, its ability to absorb shocks, and contain the negative repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. He further explained that there are successive certificates of confidence that the Egyptian economy enjoys from international financing and classification institutions, confirming that "it is on the right track." "The World Bank raised its estimates for the growth of the Egyptian economy by 1% to reach 5.5% during 2022, and the International Monetary Fund also raised its estimates to 5.6% instead of 5.2% in 2022. Meanwhile, the global economy's growth fell by 5%. Egypt has become the only oil-importing country to achieve positive growth despite the sharp rise in oil prices and shipping costs." Egypt has succeeded in reducing the budget deficit by 50% in a manner that reflects the importance of the economic reform programme and the gains it has achieved, Maait disclosed, elaborating that the rate of debt of budgetary organs to GDP decreased from 108% in FY 2016/2017 to 90.2% in June 2019 before the pandemic began.
