Maait: Global Recovery Sees Increase in Demand, Turbulence in Energy Prices

Mohamed Maait, the Egyptian Minister of Finance said that the world is witnessing an increase in the prices of oil and natural gas, as well as raw materials such as wheat and cooking oil, which in turn would affect local prices.

Maait continued, during a call-in with Ahmed Mousa on Sada el-Balad TV, saying: “A state of extreme turmoil exists globally due to the lack of stable energy prices, and the imbalance between supply and demand, which in turn affected prices in Egypt.”

He added: “Egypt is one of the largest importers of wheat in the world, in addition to its import of butane gas and cooking oil, and therefore will be affected by the change in global prices, especially in light of the increase in shipping fees,” noting that the stage of recovery from the coronavirus around the world is witnessing an increase in the volume of demand, without the balance of supply.

He pointed out that Egypt's annual volume of wheat imports accounts for 8 million tons, while the volume of oil imports reaches 120 million barrels, stressing that some countries are suffering economically due to the pandemic.

He explained that the impact of some countries on gas supplies affected the availability of food commodities, continuing, "Egypt has been safe during the crisis, and we are ready to deal with the upcoming situation," stressing the availability of food commodities in Egypt, reaching a safe reserve level.

On Egypt's accession to the historic tax agreement, he said, "Egypt will benefit from the agreement, which is historic and help overcome many obstacles, stating that the agreement opened the door to obtaining states' rights from the profits of multinational companies, commenting, "The previous situation was unfair."

The minister of finance stressed that economies are measured by the strength of their resilience during the crisis, noting that the Egyptian economy succeeded, thanks to economic reform, in recovering from the pandemic.

Regarding the increase in tax revenues by 16%, Maait said, "In short, we seek to transform tax justice through the mechanization of collection procedures," pointing out that 2,800 cases of tax evasion were seized with a total of EGP 1.25 billion pounds.

He concluded, "On June 30, we will inform everyone of their business dealings, thanks to the mechanization procedures."