Egypt Targets One Trillion Pound Public Investments in 2024/2025 Fiscal Year Plan

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said,Minister of Planning and Economic Development, announced that the new fiscal year plan for 2024/2025 targets public investments amounting to one trillion Egyptian pounds. This financial ceiling mandates prudent management of public investment expenditure. Approximately 496 billion pounds have been allocated for government investments, representing 50% of the total public investments, with a significant focus on human development.

Dr. El-Said made these remarks during her presentation of the Economic and Social Development Plan for 2024/2025 before the House of Representatives, chaired by Dr. Hanafi Gebali, the Speaker of the House.

She further elaborated that the 2024/2025 plan aims to continue developing and enhancing the efficiency of public investment by employing various mechanisms to allocate resources among different uses, monitor their implementation, and evaluate performance levels. During the planning phase of public investments, the applied mechanisms focused on improving the integrated system of planning and monitoring, enhancing the informational environment of the planning system, and maintaining communication with the Ministries of Planning and Finance through the integrated electronic system. This also includes ongoing automation of the program and performance system within the integrated framework to set quantitative targets for various programs and ensure alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Regarding the allocation phase of public investments, Dr. El-Said explained that mechanisms to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of public investment include prioritizing completion projects that are nearing completion (with an implementation rate of at least 70%) and are expected to enter the operational phase within the plan year or within two years at most. Investments for new projects will only be directed in cases of utmost necessity or with prior approval from the Cabinet. Moreover, investments will be linked to performance rates by applying the program and performance budget, providing incentives for performance, while ensuring equitable distribution of local investments among governorates based on the financing formula approved by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.

She continued that during the implementation monitoring phase, the mechanisms include intensifying field monitoring activities to assess the actual performance of ongoing projects, continuing automation of all office monitoring processes, developing mechanisms to inventory public capital assets, and incorporating them as an essential component in the investment plan preparation and monitoring system. Additionally, verifying the completion of executive works for projects according to announced timelines is crucial to mapping out their production schedule.