Egypt is aims to attract as much as USD 11 bn in foreign direct investments in FY2018-19, up from USD 7.9 bn in the previous year, Planning Minister Hala El Saeed said last week, according to Reuters. FDI is expected to reach USD 20 bn by the end of the government’s development plan in 2022, driven by ongoing economic reforms, El Saeed said. The government is also hoping to create 750k jobs by the end of the fiscal year under its medium-term development plan for 2022, the minister said.

Putting this in context: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly had unveiled a four-year strategy after he was sworn into office, which sees GDP growing and unemployment falling to 8% by 2022. The medium-term plan also sees a lower budget deficit of 6% of GDP and a primary surplus of 2%. The government is also hoping to boost non-oil exports by 13% to USD 35 bn by 2022 and increase average savings to 23%, from a current 11%, according to El Saeed. FDI had reached USD 6.0 bn in 9M2017-18, driven by some USD 3.4 bn in new oil sector investments. Carnegie Endowment had noted in a June report that FDI fell short of its USD 10 bn target last year, suggesting the government wasn’t doing enough to attract foreign investors.