Egypt has adopted 373 pre-emptive procedures in order to address the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts since 24 February until now, targeting sectors that are at high risk amid the ongoing crisis, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said said in a statement on Sunday.
The minister said that these procedures include the allocation of EGP 100 billion to finance a plan to counter the outbreak, providing liquidity to the domestic market, giving tax exemptions, and extending other sorts of facilities.
They also included raising the health ministry's budget by 100 percent and launching the Sehet Misr app for mobile phones to provide information related to COVID-19.
El-Said stressed that Egypt’s successful economic reform program has contributed to supporting the country against the harsh impact of COVID-19, citing the macroeconomic signs that Egypt attained in FY2019/2020 before the pandemic.
During FY2019/2020, Egypt recorded an economic growth of 5.6 percent from July to December in, the unemployment rate declined to 8 percent from October to December, and inflation reached 5 percent from July to March, the minister said.
Egypt’s net international reserves also increased during FY2019/2020, covering 8.5 months of the country’s imports, whereas the non-petroleum trade balance deficit dropped by 24 percent, according to the minister.
She also added that in FY2019/2020, net foreign direct investments saw growth by 19 percent from July to December and Egyptian expat remittances increased by 13 percent during the same period, while the budget deficit-to-GDP ratio fell to 8.2 percent.
El-Said said that the diversification of the Egyptian economy also contributed to its resilience amid the ongoing crisis, and that during FY2019/2020, the wholesale and retail sector contributed to the country’s GDP with 13.6 percent, manufacturing with 11.7 percent, agriculture with 11.3 percent, real estate activities with 10.3 percent, construction with 4.9 percent, and transportation and storage with 4.6 percent.
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