Minister of Planning Targets 4.2% Economic Growth and Over 2 Trillion EGP Investments in 2024/2025 Development Plan

Today, Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, presented the objectives of the 2024/2025 Economic and Social Development Plan in terms of overall economic variables during the plan’s discussion before the House of Representatives, chaired by Counselor Dr. Hanafy Gebaly, Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the presence of council members.

El-Said stated that the plan’s objectives at the level of overall economic variables include achieving a real economic growth rate of around 4.2% in 2024/2025, compared to the lower expected rate of 2.9% for 2023/2024, given the direct impact of the economic and geopolitical crises affecting the world, the region, and their international and local repercussions. She pointed out that with the targeted growth rate, it is expected that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current prices will reach 17.3 trillion EGP by the end of the 2024/2025 plan, compared to an expected 13.9 trillion EGP in 2023/2024.

Regarding sectoral contributions to real GDP growth in 2024/2025, El-Said mentioned that the sectors of communications, wholesale and retail trade, agriculture, real estate activities, and social services (education and health) are the driving and stimulating sectors for rapid growth due to their relative weight in GDP.

Concerning the plan’s investments, El-Said pointed out an increase in the total planned investments to exceed 2 trillion EGP for the first time, estimated at around 2.25 trillion EGP, compared to about 1.65 trillion EGP of expected investments for 2023/2024 and actual investments of 1.3 trillion EGP for 2022/2023. This comes as the state intensifies total investments, considering investment as a primary growth driver alongside private consumption expenditure.

El-Said also highlighted the rise in the investment rate from 11.9% in 2023/2024 to 13% in the plan’s year, expecting an increase in the investment rate in the last year of the medium-term plan in 2025/2026 to return to its previous level (17%) due to the expected surge in private investments (both local and foreign). She noted the increase in private sector investments in fixed capital assets to 987 billion EGP in the plan’s year, compared to 560 billion EGP in 2023/2024, with a growth rate exceeding 76%, contributing to raising the private sector’s share in total fixed capital investments from 37% in 2023/2024 to approximately 48% in 2024/2025, in line with the state’s policy to stimulate private sector participation and open the field for more local and foreign private sector contributions.