Wednesday, 3 August 2016

(statement) Ismail briefs El Sisi on economic reforms, privatization of SOEs

Today, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to review the overall economic situation and the government’s ongoing efforts to provide basic food commodities to the citizens and to monitor prices.

Prime Minister Ismail gave an overview of steps underway to implement the economic reform program, which reflects the government’s action plan, approved by the House of Representatives, as well as fiscal reforms envisioned in the 2016-2017 budget which were also endorsed by the House of Representatives. He confirmed that the program takes into consideration the interests of low income citizens.

President El Sisi instructed to adopt a series of parallel measures to enhance the social protection network and safeguard low income citizens in order to mitigate the impact of reform efforts. The President emphasized the need to continue to provide medicine and basic food commodities to the citizens at appropriate prices. He also stressed the need for the consumer protection agencies to exert more efforts, increase their oversight over the prices of food and medicine and ensure the availability and quality of goods.

Prime Minister Ismail outlined the program to list a limited number of state-owned companies on the Egyptian Stock Exchange before the end of the current fiscal year 2016-2017. This aims to boost the government’s efforts to enhance the stock exchange during the coming period particularly that no public offerings have been made in the stock exchange over the past 4-5 years. This takes into consideration the fact that public offerings contribute to pumping new liquidity in the market, stimulating economic growth, attracting foreign investment and boosting the stock exchange itself.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the status of draft laws proposed to the House of Representatives or those already approved such as the civil service law. The President underscored the importance of modernizing the Egyptian legislative system to contribute to enhancing the level and quality of services offered to the citizens, improving the government’s performance, and creating an environment conducive to investment.

Finally, Prime Minister Ismail gave an overview of the implementation rates of national projects currently being implemented, including some which will be inaugurated soon. President El Sisi stressed the need to continue work on these projects to complete them within the designated time-frame, at minimal cost and at the highest standards.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.