The Egyptian cabinet will discuss on Wednesday an 'emergency plan' to revive the economy, Planning Minister Ashraf El-Araby has said.

If approved, the plan would be implemented over a period of nine months. It includes at least LE10 billion ($1.4 bn) in additional government investment to stimulate the economy, El-Araby said in comments reported by state-owned Arabic daily Al-Ahram.

Fresh allocations will be directed towards paying money owed to contractors, as well as working with the banking sector to resolve the delinquency of around 4,000 closed factories.

The recent wave of violence that swept Egypt in the past few weeks caused a significant slowdown of economic activity. Instead of a hopeful 3.5 to 4 percent growth rate initially envisioned for the current fiscal year, economists expect growth to float around 2 to 2.5 percent – matching the increase in population.

Finance Minister Ahmed Galal said last week that the government plans to increase infrastructure investment in an attempt to compensate for the drop in private investment driven by political instability.

But with the budget deficit standing at an estimated LE243 billion ($38.2 billion), or 14 percent of GDP in the fiscal year ending in June, there is little room for manoeuvre.

Galal said the government would use the extensive aid money pledged to Egypt from Arab Gulf countries to boost public investment rather than raise salaries or current expenditures.

Following the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledged a total of $12 billion in loans, grants and fuel shipments. Of that, $5 billion has already arrived.