Kouchouk added, during an open dialogue with investors held
over three consecutive sessions organized by J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and
Goldman Sachs on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World
Bank meetings in Washington, that merging the fifth and sixth reviews with the
IMF allows for assessing economic and financial performance based on the actual
results of the previous fiscal year. He explained that recent tax incentives
have created an atmosphere of trust and partnership with the business community
and have attracted new voluntary financiers.
The minister stated that the government remains committed to
adopting targeted policies and programs aimed at boosting production and
exports while maintaining fiscal discipline and economic stability.
He pointed out that Egypt plans to implement between three
and four public offerings each year and is working to increase the rate of
private investments. He noted that the upcoming IPOs will include sectors such
as finance, insurance, airport management, logistics, and renewable energy
during the current fiscal year.
Kouchouk confirmed that a significant portion of exceptional
revenues will be directed toward reducing government debt and financing human
development and social protection programs.
He explained that an ambitious strategy for managing the
public debt of budgetary entities will be announced in December. He added that
the government aims to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to below 75 percent within
three years, extend the average maturity of debt to five years, and significantly
lower the cost of debt service to around seven percent of GDP over the same
period. He said the government is also working to expand access to concessional
financing.
The minister added that Egypt is pursuing
debt-for-investment swaps following the successful Ras El Hekma deal. He noted
that efforts are underway to convert a substantial portion of deposits from
Arab and some Western countries into direct investments to meaningfully reduce
public debt.