President El-Sisi Meets PM, Minister of Finance and His Deputies for Fiscal Policies and Treasury

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met today with Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Finance Dr. Mohamed Maait, in the presence of Vice Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies Mr. Ahmed Kouchouk and Deputy Minister of Finance for Public Treasury Dr. Ihab Abu Aish.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that the meeting addressed the economic and financial performance indicators during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020/ 2021.

In this context, the President directed that the state's financial measures should be strengthened to deal with the economic challenges and repercussions of coronavirus with the aim of ensuring the stability of financial policies and maintaining a Covid-safe economy.

The Minister of Finance presented the state’s financial situation during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. He demonstrated that this period witnessed a primary surplus of EGP 200 million despite the negative repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. This in addition to a 16% increase in revenues compared to a 7% increase in expenditures and a decline in the overall deficit compared to the achievements made during the same period last year.

Dr. Mohamed Maait also showcased the efforts to manage debt in accordance with the government's strategy in this context and indicated the balance achieved in the adopted fiscal policies between continuing to achieve fiscal control and promote economic activity, which was manifested, during the fiscal year 2019/2020, in achieving positive growth rates of 3.6%. In addition, "Purchasing Managers' Index” has significantly improved during September 2020, reflecting a better performance in the non-oil private sector.

According to the Spokesman, the meeting also discussed the efforts to automate and develop the system of the Egyptian Customs Authority through the operation of the Purchasing Managers' Index system in many ports of entry into the country, seeking to implement this system in all ports by the end of June 2021.

The trial run of the logistics center was launched at the port of Alexandria during November, following the success of an experiment carried out in Cairo International Airport and the ports of Ain Sokhna, East and West Port Said. Additionally, all headquarters, equipment and work systems for these centers were updated in a way that ensures faster and better service for customers in accordance with the best international systems and standards.

In the same context, the Minister of Finance indicated the results showed that the customs clearance time of all Egyptian ports and customs outlets is shortened from an average of 6 and a half days in January 2020 to an average of 5.2 days in November 2020.

The President issued directives for continuing to reduce this percentage by simplifying procedures to reach the best international standards with the aim of facilitating the trade process, ensuring access to goods and governing the export and import process to and from the state.

During the meeting, the President was also updated on the launch of the electronic tax invoice project in Egypt, which represents an important step for the Egyptian Tax Authority. This project aims to achieve development and modernization and to move to a new stage in tax administration to reduce tax evasion, help combat tax avoidance more efficiently and limit the non-state sector through several steps, the most prominent of which is monitoring the economic activity, verifying the validity of the data of the source, recipient and content of the invoice, identifying mutual transactions between companies and uncovering fake transactions.

Dr. Mohamed Maait expounded, in this regard, that the electronic tax invoice project was carried out in cooperation with Microsoft Corporation, noting that the Ministry of Finance’s target, during May 2021, was asking all top financiers; i.e. companies, to use the e-invoice in all their dealings with companies, in a manner that completely guarantees the governance of the system of issuing invoices between companies according to the best standards.