Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea announced, on Saturday, that the Export Development Fund (EDF) will release, on Sunday, the first batch of lump-sum payment of their export subsidy dues.
It comes as part of the lump-sum payment initiative recently announced by the Egyptian government, to settle the delayed dues of companies with the fund.
Under this initiative, exporters can receive their subsidy dues in full, instead of several instalments over four or five years, before the end of next December, provided that a 15% of the sum will be cut.
The initiative has been designed to provide exporters with cash liquidity required to fulfil their obligations and preserve employment.
Gamea said that, since 1 November, a total of 903 companies have submitted requests to the fund in order to benefit from the initiative. The first batch of payments will be made to about 323 companies, totalling EGP 3.2bn.
The minister also said that the EDF has contacted companies to notify them of the amount of their due subsidies.
Gamea added that this initiative implements the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to support exporting companies, and quickly respond to the country’s export burdens.
The aim of this is to support Egypt’s industrial and export sectors, especially during this stage due to the repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The initiative, set up in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and banks working in the local market, allows 85% of the total value of export subsidy dues to be paid to companies. It aims to shift away from making payments in instalments, which may take several years.
Gamea indicated that the EDF will continue to receive requests from exporting companies wishing to benefit from this initiative until 30 November.
