Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait announced Saturday launching the fifth phase of the lump-sum payment initiative of export subsidy dues. In a statement, Maait said that companies wishing to join the new phase of the initiative could apply starting from 28 August to 15 September 2022, with the same conditions as the previous four phases. Maait added that the payment dates were set on 1 October and 1 December. He pointed out that EGP 10bn will be allocated to the fifth phase of the initiative. Ahmed Kochouk, the Deputy Minister for Financial Policies and Institutional Development, said that the ministry continues to pay the export subsidy dues despite global economic challenges. With that, it aims to provide sufficient financial liquidity to ensure production and export continue. He added that more than EGP 33bn have been disbursed to exporting companies, during the past two years, since the initiatives kicked off in October 2019. Nevine Mansour, Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance for Financial Policies, said that the banking sector, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Export Development Fund cooperated effectively to support the initiative. This reflects the state's keenness on increasing non-oil exports as a cornerstone for economic growth. She pointed out that Egyptian non-oil exports witnessed a remarkable increase during the first half of 2022 by about 20%, at a value of $19.3bn, compared to $16.1bn during the same period in 2021.
