The minister of planning, monitoring, and administrative reform, Hala Al-Saeed, said in a press statement on Friday, that the state targets to increase the funding of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to reach EGP 9.3bn by 2030.
Al-Saeed noted that the annual average of funding specified for SMEs’ projects rose from EGP 2.53bn in the period from 2012 to 2014, reaching about EGP 5.75bn in the period from 2015 to 2016, a growth rate of 127%.
She explained that the total funding of SMEs amounted to EGP 15.2bn, during the period from 2015 to September 2017.
The minister pointed out that the increase in financing these projects came through the existence of several initiatives which encouraged the establishment of SMEs, with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate.
Al-Saeed declared that the state is giving priority to the fight against unemployment, noting that it has taken a number of measures, the most important of which is encouraging the establishment of SMEs, with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate among youth, through the initiatives of the Central Bank of Egypt to provide credit facilities, in addition to the allocation of special departments for direct dealings with the project owners.
