The Minister of Planning and Economic Development announces the goals of the economic and social development plan for FY 23/2024

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, announced the goals of the economic and social development plan for the fiscal year (FY) (23/2024) and the second year of the medium-term plan for sustainable development (22/2023 - 25/2026).

Dr. Hala El-Said said that the plan document comes as a culmination and continuation of the participatory approach followed by the Egyptian state in the development planning process.

She stressed that its directions, objectives, and development programs were formulated by a constructive national dialogue that brings together all sectors of society, to strengthen the bonds of cooperation, coordination, and integration between government agencies and the private sector.

El-Said asserted that the 2023/2024 plan estimated the economic growth rate at about 4.1% in the year 2023/2024.

She explained that these estimates are similar to the estimates issued by international institutions, which indicate that Egypt is expected to achieve a growth rate ranging between 4-4%. 3% in 2023/22 and 2024/23.

El-Said added that it is estimated that the gross domestic product in the year of the plan will reach about EGP 11.84 trillion, compared to 9.8 EGP trillion, the value of the expected output for the previous year 2023/22, to achieve the desired rate of economic growth. She continued that the plan aims to increase total investments to reach about EGP 1.8 trillion in the plan year (2024/23), including the change in inventory.

El-Said explained that as part of the state’s interest in the private sector’s participation in accelerating the wheel of economic growth and revitalizing markets, the plan has adopted ambitious targets for private investments to reach about EGP 600 billion in 2023/2024, at a rate of approximately 36% of the total targeted investments, compared to an expected percentage in 2022/24. 2023 is around 31%, and the actual rate is 29% in 2021/21.

  El-Said added that public investments are estimated at EGP 1,050 billion or 64% of the total investments, the government apparatus allocates about EGP 587 billion or 56%, and economic bodies enjoy EGP 384 billion, or 37%, and public companies will enjoy EGP 79 billion, or 7%.

El-Said added that the plan also included a special section reviewing its role in implementing the National Human Rights Strategy (2021-2026) from the standpoint of linking the projects, programs, and initiatives targeted by the plan and the main pillars of the strategy, especially about economic and social rights, the Convention on the Rights of Women and Children, and "People of Determination" (POD).

El-Said confirmed that the plan was launched by several main pillars, which included a full commitment to the objectives of the pillars of the National Human Rights Strategy, an affirmation of the right to development, which the Egyptian state attaches utmost importance in its development orientation, in addition to consistency and compatibility with the objectives of the national agenda to achieve sustainable development within the framework of Egypt’s vision "2030 “.

El-Said pointed out that the plan was keen in its investment directions to take into account several considerations that ensure maximizing the effectiveness of investments in achieving the desired goals with high efficiency, which was represented by focusing on priority sectors in agreement with the structural economic and social reform program, represented by agriculture, manufacturing industry, communications, and information technology.

  The plan also aimed to develop small and medium enterprises to expand the labor market’s absorptive capacity to provide about 800,000 job opportunities, which will contribute to maintaining unemployment rates at their low levels, around 7.6% in 2023/2024.

El-Said highlighted the considerations that the plan was keen on, referring to the intensification of investments directed to the education sector, especially technological and technical education, as well as those allocated to the health sector in the field of developing and disseminating primary health care while intensifying interest in departments of preventive and curative medicine for viral diseases.

Moreover, the plan aims to move towards the development of environmentally friendly industries and the green economy, as well as giving priority to the localization of projects and directing financial allocations to the governorates most in need according to the development gaps within the framework of the initiatives and programs proposed, most notably the Decent Life Initiative for the development of the Egyptian countryside.

Dr. Hala El-Said added that among the considerations is giving priority to public projects that are being implemented and targeted for completion during the plan year or those that are being completed with implementation rates of 70% or more.