(AFP Photo)
Minister of Investment Yehia Hamed has proposed a new project to the ministerial cabinet titled “Treasury”, which will be earmarked to finance big enterprises in Egypt like the controversial Suez Canal Corridor Project.
Hamed also announced his plans to hold talks with Central Bank of Egypt Governor Hisham Ramez to raise the fund portfolio of “Bidaya” to EGP 500m instead of EGP 130m, in order to finance small and medium sized enterprises.
The investment minister’s proposal, which is still being reviewed by Prime Minister Hesham Qandil, was inspired by a similar move Malaysia had taken to fund its big projects.
“The prime minister is planning to establish through the project a massive economic framework that would include all segments of Egyptian society that can contribute in developing the country’s economy through establishing national projects,” the cabinet’s spokesperson Alaa El-Hadidi said in a press release.
Hamed stressed that such a project will help boost the country’s economy which has been on the decline since the revolution two years ago amidst sporadic violence and political conflicts which contributed to stalling investments and depleting international reserves.
“The economy is currently going through critical times as the growth rate last year reached only 2.2%; however, it is a good thing considering what the Egyptian economy went through so far,” he said.
Political turmoil which has prevailed in the past several years had also scared away foreign investors from the country, and challenged the governments’ attempts in meeting requirements by the International Monetary Fund to receive a $4.8bn loan package.
