Egypt to double export subsidies: MENA

Newspaper Title: Ahram Online

Newspaper Number:

Tuesday - 23 June 2015

Egypt's economic ministers on Monday approved increasing export subsidies to LE5 billion from LE2.6 billion, state-owned news agency MENA reported.

The new increase is set to boost Egyptian products' chances of competing on the international market and of finding new markets, according to the cabinet statement. 

Egypt's total exports dropped to $8 billion in May 2015, from $10 billion in May 2014, according to the General Organisation for Export and Import Control.

In an earlier statement, the Federation of Egyptian Industries said that it was seeking to increase export subsidies to make up for a projected drop in energy subsidies that would cause a price hike in electricity and gas for factories, according to Aswat Masriya.

Since President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi took office last year, Egypt has gradually cut energy subsidies, hoping to cut the budget deficit from 12.6 percent of its GDP in 2013/14 to 8-9 percent by 2018/19, through a medium-term economic plan.

The current fiscal year has seen the implementation of the first stage of a five-year plan to lower electricity subsidies by 67 percent to LE9 billion.