Egypt has launched the second phase of its economic reform programme, which shifts focus on structural reforms, after a wrap-up of the first phase of the IMF-backed economic reform programme that has been in progress since 2016.
Dubbed the ‘National Structural Reform Programme’ (NSRP), the three-year structural reform phase aims to back the economy and bolster comprehensive and sustainable growth.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a press conference that the newly announced structural programme does not include imposing new financial burdens on citizens, with the government aiming to improve the standard of living and a continued subsidising of food commodities and spending on social protection programmes.
He said that Egypt is aiming for a growth rate of six to seven percent in the next three years and is targeting a primary surplus of two percent in the upcoming period and lowering the budget deficit to 5.5 percent by 2023-2024.
Diversifying the production structure of the economy has been selected as a main pillar of the programme, with a focus on three sectors, including the processing industry, agriculture, telecommunications and informational technology, and other pillars like developing the business environment, maximising the role of the private sector, and achieving the flexibility in the labour market, among others.
