CAIRO - Egypt's health and finance ministries are studying imposing a 10 per cent tax on cement companies to raise funds for public health expenditures, a health ministry official told Reuters on Friday. He said there is no schedule for a final decision. Egypt is overhauling healthcare and insurance to improve services for its 78 million people, of whom about 20 percent live on less than $1 a day, according to the United Nations. Independent newspaper Al-Shorouk quoted Health Minister Hatem el-Gabaly two weeks ago as saying that the government should raise money for health expenses from polluting industries such as tobacco and cement. The option of taxing cement firms was now under discussion, the newspaper quoted the minister as telling a news conference on Thursday. Egypt's construction industry has grown despite the global economic downturn, even as building projects stalled elsewhere in the region. Cement demand rose 25 percent last year, driven largely by a growing population and a cash-fuelled economy. Egypt plans to issue eight new cement licences this year, as it aims to boost production capacity to 80 million tonnes a year by 2015 from 50 million. Last week Egypt's finance minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali told Reuters he is ready to consider a new cigarette tax to boost healthcare spending for low income groups, if parliament sought it. One company, Eastern Company, has a monopoly on cigarette production and sales in Egypt. Egypt currently offers limited free medical treatment to low earners.
