Boom predicted for new fiscal year
The Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid presided over an expanded ministerial meeting that discussed policies and measures to begin to implement the General State Budget for the new fiscal year as of July 1, 2001, up to June 30, 2002.
Minister of Information Safwat Al-Sherif said the new fiscal year would witness a breakthrough in financial and economic performance, more activity in Egyptian economy and activation of the market to wider horizons.
He said that the volume of the new budget is LE 126 billion. In the light of this, a number of policies and executive measures to begin to implement the budget have been defined.
The first measure under these policies is to carry out a program for the repayment of government debts up to June 30, 2001.
Minister of Planning Ahmed Al-Darsh will set up a working group to make an inventory of all dues to ensure that they will be paid not later than the end of August.
The second measure is to make expenditure under the new budget at the rate of LE10 billion monthly to pay wages, pensions and meet current expenses and investments.
Minister of Finance Medhat Hassanein will lay down a plan for these financial and currency flows.
Sherif said that the third measure is to activate demand on goods from individuals and organizations and to expedite the execution of projects to ensure a quick cycle of capital while carrying out policies to increase Egyptian exports and to be committed to measures related to the main crops such as cotton, rice, maize and wheat.
He said that the fourth measure is to immediately implement appropriations for major projects to serve citizens in villages and quarters such as projects of drinking water pumping stations, sanitary drainage, schools, roads and lighting.
The fifth measure is to carry out a program to provide jobs, training and rehabilitation.
The sixth measure is represented in commitment on the part of self-finance and loan organizations to pump loans necessary for these projects without any administrative complications.
The seventh measure is to carry out a number of policies to reduce stagnant and stored goods by offering them on external markets at appropriate and competitive prices in order to ensure a recycle of capital.
The last measure is to carry out the real estate financing (mortgage) law, to begin to set up financing organizations for this activity, to complete issuing two republican decrees to set up a real estate financing control authority and a real estate financing fund, to complete issuing the executive statutes of the real estate mortgage law and setting up organizations for real estate evaluation in which foreign and Egyptian investment companies and public and private banks take part and also to set up financial organization specialized in dealing in the shares and bonds of real estate financing.
The Ministry of Economy is drafting the two republican decrees and the executive statutes prior to referring them to the Council of Ministers.