70.5% of the total investments made in the country throughout fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015 were from the private sector, said Minister of investment Ashraf Salman on Tuesday.
The total investments made were worth EGP 336bn, whereby Salman indicated that this is the first time for the private sector to make such a contribution since the year 1993; therefore the government targets a 75% contribution from the private sector in the current FY 2015\2016.
The minister’s statements were given on the sidelines of the Partnership for Development Initiative conference in Cairo, which mainly focused on financial leasing as a new venue for investment.
On whether the government should consider establishing a national leasing company to support the sector, Salman declared his opposition to the idea.
He explained that the government’s role in this field should be in regulating and helping the sector grow. Creating a national project, however, could harm rather than support the sector.
He further indicated that the leasing sector is still a small sector that still can’t push the growth of the economy, noting that from January to September 2015 the sector contributed 0.58% to the country’s GDP.
