Minister of Planning Presents 2024/2025 Economic and Social Development Plan Before Parliament

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, discussed the draft of the new fiscal year’s economic and social development plan for 2024/2025 – the third year of the medium-term plan (2023/2025-2026) before the House of Representatives, chaired by Counselor Dr. Hanafy Gebaly, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

During her speech, Dr. Hala El-Said emphasized that efforts towards sustainable development revolve around three main objectives, which integrate in their dimensions and essential elements: achieving sustainable economic growth, maintaining high employment levels while minimizing unemployment rates, and providing comprehensive social protection for all members of society, with particular emphasis on low-income groups. She pointed out that next year’s plan focuses on mobilizing efforts and concentrating on projects that support achieving these targets.

El-Said highlighted the plan’s consideration of the expected impact of current variables and conditions on growth trajectories, and the aspirations of the plan’s targets. Egypt continues to suffer – like the rest of the world – from the repercussions of economic and geopolitical crises witnessed globally and particularly in our Arab region. Therefore, the plan supports the efforts and serious reforms the state continues to implement to strengthen the resilience of the Egyptian economy against crises, seize existing opportunities to overcome them, and address internal challenges by setting the necessary policies and government programs to tackle crises, confront challenges, accelerate comprehensive and sustainable growth.

El-Said stressed working towards achieving a set of priority development goals within the framework of Egypt’s updated Vision 2030, by expanding public expenditure on human development (health, education, and scientific research), in line with constitutional entitlements. This includes enhancing access to health services, gradually expanding the comprehensive health insurance system to cover all governorates, and continuing to upgrade the educational system, in addition to enriching cultural and sports life, ensuring water and food security, providing safe and sustainable transport systems, enhancing local and regional development, building the digital and knowledge economy, and transitioning to a green economy.

The Minister of Planning added that efforts are underway to expand the social protection umbrella to include the most vulnerable groups and to ensure equitable distribution of public investments at the local level, taking into account developmental gaps between governorates. Moreover, implementing the second phase of the “Decent Life” initiative aimed at improving living conditions for rural families, continuing the effective application of structural reforms adopted by the government program, which prioritizes boosting growth in commodity sectors (agricultural and industrial), productive services (communications and information technology), and sectors where Egypt has competitive advantages, notably tourism and logistics.

El-Said also affirmed the commitment to rationalize all aspects of current public spending, with a focus on enhancing the efficiency of public investment spending and increasing its effectiveness in maximizing economic and social returns, continuing to implement program-based budgeting and performance standards, and taking all necessary measures to stimulate private sector participation in investment, accelerate economic growth and employment, especially after announcing the State Ownership Policy Document, and the increasing trend towards stimulating private sector participation, and enhancing the role of Egypt’s Sovereign Fund for Investment and Development in this field.

She clarified the state’s direction to target inflation, especially with the government’s efforts and movements to control commodity prices in markets, expand the provision of outlets for discounted goods, and support the structural reform plan focusing on real economy sectors, confirming the continuation of upgrading employment levels. The plan aims to provide around 900,000 additional job opportunities across various commodity and service sectors, allowing for an increase in economic activity participation and a reduction in unemployment rates.