Egypt’s Planning Minister Says the state allocated EGP 3.3 trillion to improve social protection & transportation services
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23 June 2022
The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development reviewed in a report issued by the harvest 8 years of improving the standard of living of the Egyptian citizen during the period (July 2014 - June 2022).
H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, confirmed that all development programs, initiatives, and projects carried out by the state mainly aim to improve the standard of living of the Egyptian citizen and improve the quality of services provided to them.
This is evident in the volume of financial allocations and huge public investments directed by the state, to expand social protection services and social safety nets, improve drinking water and sanitation services, and develop slums and transport, during the past eight years.
The allocations for support and social protection amounted to more than 2 trillion pounds, compared to EGP 1 trillion, during the previous eight years (06/2007 -13/2014), with a growth rate of 100%, in addition to public investments that amounted to EGP 1.3 trillion in the transport and housing sectors., compared to EGP 221 billion during the previous eight years, with a growth rate of 488%.
The report of the Ministry of Planning deals in detail with the state's efforts in implementing 25 development programs and initiatives, and more than 100 strategic projects that have been implemented in basic areas aimed at improving the standard of living of the Egyptian citizen, during the past eight years.
The report pointed to the development of spending directed to social protection programs, as the Egyptian state directed from the general budget more than EGP 2 trillion for social protection programs, during the previous eight years (14/2015-21/2022), with a growth rate of 95%.The most important programs and initiatives implemented in the field of social protection are represented in raising the efficiency of the in-kind support system, as the total allocations for subsidizing food commodities amounted to about EGP 559 billion during the past eight years, from which 64 million citizens currently benefit, with a growth rate of 193% compared to the previous eight years.
Concerning the provision of adequate housing, the report indicates that about 500,000 people have benefited from the provision of adequate housing, for EGP 1.2 billion, by furnishing and equipping 20.6 thousand housing units for families that were transferred from unsafe areas to new ones, for EGP 644 million, in addition, to support for social housing and low-income people.
On the role of the “Decent Life” initiative in improving social protection programs in the Egyptian countryside, the report indicated that the “Decent Life” initiative attaches special importance to expanding the umbrella of comprehensive social protection in the targeted geographical scope, as it resulted from the preliminary phase of the initiative that started in July 2019 to December 2020.
The report pointed to the most important strategic results in the social protection sector, represented by a decrease in poverty rates by 2 percentage points between 17/2018 and 19/2020 for the first time in 20 years, in addition to a decline in population rates below the extreme poverty line to 4.5% in 2019, compared to 5.3% in 2015.
The "Decent Life" initiative also contributed to improving the quality-of-life index (the rate of availability of basic services) in the villages of the preparatory stage (375 poorest villages) and reducing the poverty rate by about 11 percentage points.
Concerning the role of the "Decent Life" initiative in improving the quality of transport services in the Egyptian countryside, the report indicated that the transport sector has a high priority among the most important interventions implemented within the framework of the national project for the development of the Egyptian countryside, "Decent Life".