Egypt approves development plan with lower growth target

Egypt’s parliament has approved a new economic development plan that lowers the government’s growth target for the coming fiscal year.

The move reflects concerns over regional instability, higher energy and food import costs, and disruptions to shipping routes.

However, the government is still confident the incentives introduced during the past two years will attract investment and create nearly 900,000 new jobs.

The government had previously projected growth during the plan to accelerate to about 5.4 percent from 5.2 percent in the 2025-2026 plan.

“The current plan was devised for the first time through measurable general equilibrium models and implementation monitoring, taking into account geopolitical scenarios including temporary paralysis of shipping and big increases in energy and food prices,” Egypt’s planning and economic development minister Ahmed Rostom said in a statement on the cabinet’s website.

The minister said the government was predicting a “conservative growth target” of between 4.8 percent and 5.2 percent, but is confident it would rise to between 6.2 percent and 6.8 percent by 2029/2030.

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Egypt’s parliamentary affairs minister Hani Hanna said the plan targets record-high investments, which could lead to the creation of almost 1 million jobs.

He said the bulk of the increase in investments would come from the private sector, which is benefiting from government incentives and ongoing privatisation plans.

Last month, Rostom said total investments are projected to account for 17 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and would swell to 20 percent by 2029-2030. Private investments this year are expected to reach 64 percent, he added.