Maait Partakes in G20 Meetings

Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said on Sunday that the government works on increasing its spending on public investments, including health and education sectors.

The government also operates to stabilize its fiscal policies, including taxes and customs in order to attract more private and foreign investments, creating more job opportunities.

"Structural reforms have brought the Egyptian economy back on track and restored the confidence of investors, and international rating agencies," he pointed out, adding that the private investments are the backbones of the economic transformation, leading development and growth during the coming period.

This came during the participation of the minister in the meetings of G-20 finance chiefs summit, which is currently held in the Japanese city of Fukuoka during June 6-9.

"The Egyptian pound is observing a marked appreciation in value against other currencies. In addition, the volume of Foreign reserves has doubled reaching $ 45 billion, giving a boost to GDP growth rates, which marked 5.6 percent," he pointed out.

[caption id="attachment_55747" align="aligncenter" width="490"] The G-20 meeting on Sunday in Fukuoka, Japan[/caption]

Moreover, the government aims to achieve a growth rate of 6 percent in the fiscal year 2020/19 and reduce the total deficit to 7.2 percent.

The government has also engaged in mega national projects, providing millions of jobs for youth, leading to the decline of the unemployment rate.

Egypt has managed to achieve an initial surplus of 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and aims at reducing the total deficit to 8.4 percent of GDP. The Country has also managed to reduce the unemployment rate to single digits at 9.6 percent.

International credit rating agencies have re-positioned Egypt ranking after the country has managed to control inflation rates and trade deficit.

The minister stressed that Egypt is determined to develop its economy through comprehensive structural reforms, and infrastructure mega-projects, including the boost in electricity and natural gas production.

Egypt has been taking comprehensive measures to reduce the level of public debt. The country managed to reduce public debt to GDP from 108 percent to less than 93 percent by the end of this month and is expected to reach less than 80 percent by the end of this fiscal year.