Planning Ministry participates in the first steps of achieving “Financial Inclusion” in the “Decent Life” initiative

A delegation from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, along with the Central Bank of Egypt, representatives of some banks, the National Council for Women, and the “Decent Life” Foundation participated in a field visit to the (Sahel Saleem) town in Asyut Governorate, as the first executive steps to implement the "financial inclusion" strategy.


The visit comes within the framework of the national project for the development of the Egyptian countryside:  Decent Life.
In this context, Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, referred to the successful strategic partnership with the Central Bank of Egypt, banks, the “Decent Life” Foundation, and relevant authorities, intending to integrate the "financial inclusion" strategy into the presidential initiative.

El-Said stressed the importance of field visits to the targeted towns in a "Decent Life", to monitor the actual needs of the citizens of these centers and their affiliated villages, and the availability of financial infrastructure, to provide a package of various banking services and products.

For his part, Dr. Jamil Helmy, Assistant Minister of Planning for Follow-up Affairs of the Sustainable Development Plan, and General Supervisor of the "Decent Life" initiative, stressed the importance of integrating the citizen into the state's development plans, as an essential partner in the development process.

This is within the framework of the localization of sustainable development goals at the governorate level, and this is achieved by identifying the state of development within the geographical scope of the initiative and the services to be provided.



The "financial inclusion" strategy in the "Decent Life" initiative includes providing multifunctional automated teller machines (ATMs), expanding the deployment of electronic payment machines (POS, MPOS, and QR code), affording mobile ATM cars, as well as developing Agricultural Bank branches and opening new branches.



 Moreover, the initiative includes providing banking products and services, including financing micro-enterprises, opening an economic activity account for craftsmen and micro-enterprises that do not have a commercial registry or a license to practice the activity, automating payments and receipts, and expanding the issuance of prepaid “Meeza” cards, especially for university students and pensioners.

The "Financial Inclusion" strategy also includes providing micro-lending through the "Bab Rizq" program, activating the electronic payments and collection system, expanding support for small and medium activities, and financing the implementation of the modern irrigation system in agricultural lands, which contributes to increasing productivity.

The aforementioned strategy also includes providing fertilizers and maintaining the quality of agricultural lands, by financing the establishment of drip and sprinkler irrigation networks, financing the solar energy generation program with agricultural activities, and financing biogas generation units.


The delegation includes representatives of 8 banks: the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, Alex Bank, Qatar National National QNB, Commercial International CIB, The United Bank, and Export Development.