(DNE photo)
The investment plan for the next fiscal year weakens economic growth, according Yemen Al-Hamaky, economics professor at Ain Shams University.
Government investments, according to a Sunday finance ministry statement, decreased to EGP 62.2bn compared to EGP 95bn throughout the current fiscal year, following the channelling of government stimulus packages worth EGP 32.9bn to public investment.
Al-Hamaky added: “Government investments have been cut at a time when private sector investments are dwindling, contributing to an increase in unemployment rates and a deterioration of the economic situation.”
The investment plan for the coming year is distributed among various social housing programmes, which are valued at EGP 9.5bn, an increase of 19%. Government investments include a project to develop Egypt’s poorest villages and will allocate approximately EGP 848m to the development of 1,153 villages.
The plan also provides for the development of 24 slum areas that will receive EGP 1.6bn to fund projects to supply basic facilities like water, sanitation, and electricity.
The allotments include EGP 7.9bn for drinking water and sanitation projects to supply deprived areas across Egypt.
“The problem is not the allotments, but rather lies in the Ministry of Housing’s lack of a programme implementation mechanism,” said Yahya Shawkat, researcher of housing and land rights at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
