Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has revealed that the third phase of the lump-sum payment initiative of export subsidy dues has received a remarkable turnout since the application window was opened last Sunday.
The minister said that requests have been received from about 600 exporting companies wishing to benefit from the initiative. This contributes to providing cash liquidity that enables them to meet their obligations towards customers and to preserve employment in light of the repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In a statement on Sunday, Maait said that applications are still being received from companies wishing to join the third phase of the initiative, which will continue until 29 July 2021, with the same conditions as the previous two phases.
The disbursement will take place between September and October 2021, provided that a 15% of the sum will be cut.
The third phase of the initiative continues the successes the Ministry of Finance has achieved in the first two phases. These were implemented from November to December 2020, and the second phase from February to June 2021.
Maait added that the initiative’s third phase is being implemented in cooperation with the banking sector, to provide these outstanding dues to exporting companies. The Ministry of Finance will repay the total of these amounts and their interest to the banks participating in this initiative over three years.
More than 2,000 exporting companies received approximately EGP 16.4bn during the previous two phases.
Maait pointed out that since the beginning of the initiative in October 2019, exporting companies have been supported with EGP 28bn.
Nevine Mansour, Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance, said that the previous five initiatives put forward by the government to pay the overdue amounts to support the exporters at the Export Development Fund benefited 2,500 exporting companies.
She pointed out that these initiatives effectively contributed to providing the necessary liquidity for exporting companies, in a way that ensures the continuity of the production wheel.
