Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has said that a community dialogue will be launched on the new budget 2023/2024 during the next few weeks, in implementation of presidential directives. This dialogue aims to set priorities for public spending, in light of the exceptional circumstances in the global economy, which impose extremely difficult pressures on the budgets of countries, including Egypt, whether in terms of the unprecedented rise in the prices of goods and services a result of the disruption of supply chains, or the high cost of financing.
Maait added, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance on Monday, that the government aims for a fair distribution of budgetary appropriations, taking into account the response to the requirements of growth and development for all regions and segments of society, with a focus on development priorities, expanding the social protection network, and dealing with the effects of international and local economic challenges. This aims to limit the repercussions of the global inflationary wave on citizens as much as possible; especially the neediest and most vulnerable groups, along with the completion of the Decent Life initiative, the largest project in the history of Egypt, to improve the lives of 60% of Egyptians who live in rural areas, increase spending on health and education, and expand effective programs in these two vital sectors; in order to continue human development.
He highlighted the government’s commitment to meeting the needs of citizens, reducing inflationary effects on them, and achieving economic goals, by maximizing efforts of financial discipline, the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy, improving the business environment and simplifying procedures to stimulate investment, and achieving high and sustainable growth rates. This would happen by boosting productivity and export rates, as well as deepening the local component, promoting economic development, paying attention to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and manufacturing industries, expanding the trend towards green transformation, attracting more clean investments by making optimal use of strong infrastructure, and supporting structural reforms so that the private sector leads the development engine and provides more productive job opportunities.
According to the statement, the Minister of Finance is keen to manage the series of community dialogues himself, in the presence of the ministry’s leaders, to ensure the achievement of the desired goals, in a way that contributes to determining the requirements for stimulating economic activity through the vision of the business community in its various segments, and economists, and the requirements for maximizing efforts to empower women, youth and people of determination through the vision of their representatives. And getting to know what goes on in the minds of citizens by seeing their representatives also from the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and monitoring what intellectuals say from university professors, research centers, senior writers and media professionals, so that we can finally determine the priorities of public spending in the process of construction and development, the foundations of which were laid by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi; This leads to providing a decent life for the citizens.
The statement indicated that six dialogue sessions will be held with representatives of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Industries, the Export Councils, the Investors Union, the two businessmen’s associations, the business youth, the joint business councils, the House of Representatives and the Senate, women and people of determination, in addition to university youth, press and media figures, economists, university professors and research centers.
