CAIRO, Sept 26 , 2018 - The government is preparing an economic reform programme that is aimed at reducing public debt to 70 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) within four years, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maeet said on Wednsday. During a meeting on Wednsday with members of the French Chamber of Trade and Industry in Egypt, Minister Maeet added that the programme would be presented to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi within two weeks. Maeet also said that the economic reform programme's strong measures that have recently been carried out, has enabled the national economy to absorb all the foreign turbulence. Maeet added that the economic reform decision required a political leadership that had the courage to bear the responsibility especially in the light of the harsh conditions that the country has been passing through. The minister said that there would be no new taxes imposed and the target was to stabilise tax, customs and financial policies and to focus on growth and employment. Between 2016 and now, foreign currency reserves increased from $13 billion to $44.4 billion while inflation rates were reduced to 14 per cent and unemployment rates fell to less than 10 per cent, the minister said. In the fiscal year 2017/18, the government achieved a growth rate of 5.4 per cent, Maeet said. He added that he expected the growth rate to reach 5.8 percent this fiscal year.
