Egyptian Minister of Planning Rania Al-Mashat has launched the English version of the executive summary of "Egypt's Narrative for Economic Development: Reforms for Growth, Jobs & Resilience" during the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels. The document, which promotes the new economic model the government aims to achieve, was made available on the ministry's website ahead of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings this week. During meetings with European commissioners and bilateral development partners, Al-Mashat reviewed the key pillars of the new narrative, which is based on macroeconomic stability, structural transformation towards tradable sectors, redefining the state's role in the economy, and empowering the private sector. "The narrative goes beyond fiscal and monetary reform and focuses on real economy sectors," Al-Mashat said in a statement. She explained that after a decade of infrastructure development and efforts to achieve macroeconomic stability since March 2024, the new programme aims to build on this progress by focusing on productive sectors. The minister said the transformation is already visible in the economy's growth structure, with non-petroleum manufacturing industries, alongside tourism, ICT, and agriculture, leading the fastest-growing sectors in the last fiscal year, 2024/2025. Al-Mashat noted that the state is redefining its role in economic activity through the implementation of the State Ownership Policy Document. This is being carried out through various entities, including a State-Owned Enterprises Unit to evaluate public companies, a Government Offerings Unit to coordinate the exit from some state-owned assets, and the country's sovereign fund. She stressed that macroeconomic stability remains a fundamental pillar, with the government working to put public debt on a downward path by increasing resources from tourism and real economy sectors, encouraging foreign direct investment, and utilising concessional financing and debt swaps. At the same time, the government is implementing strategies to increase the fiscal space available for human development sectors, particularly health and education, and is working to expand social protection efforts to support the most vulnerable groups. Al-Mashat affirmed that the new narrative aims to achieve integration between national strategies for foreign direct investment, industrial development, trade policy, and employment to boost Egypt's contribution to global value chains.
