Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said in a statement Saturday that the Export Development Fund has offered EGP 42.5bn in export subsidies to 2,500 companies since October 2019.
The export subsidies help companies continue production and fulfil their obligations, which would lead to maximizing the country’s production capacities, exports, competitiveness of Egyptian products in global markets, and realizing the dream of $100bn worth exports.
Maait confirmed that there is a presidential mandate to continue supporting the export sector, despite the exceptional and extremely difficult circumstances that the global economy suffers from, and that impose pressure on the budgets of various countries, including Egypt, explaining that the current global economic crises have not and will not impede the process of supporting exports in Egypt, although they are complex challenges and the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic are intertwined with the negative effects of the war in Europe, including the sharp inflationary wave, and combating climate change, which leads to additional financing burdens on emerging economies, at a time when access to international markets to cover the financing gap has become more difficult and costly.
Last Thursday, EGP 2.5bn in export subsidies were provided to 584 companies as the second batch of the fifth phase of the lump-sum export subsidy payment initiative. Thus, the number of companies benefiting from this phase reached 1,653 companies, with a total of EGP 9.7bn during the past two months.
For his part, Ahmed Kochouk, Deputy Minister of Finance for financial policies and institutional development, said: “We are continuing to support the export sector to lay the foundations for a more stimulating climate for industry and production, through the speedy payment of export support to exporting companies, in a way that helps preserve employment, raise economic growth rates, and achieve development goals.”
Nevin Mansour, Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance, said that the fruitful cooperation with the banking sector, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Export Development Fund had a great impact on the success of the immediate cash payment initiative to support exporters in its four stages, and a motive for completing the export support process in the fifth stage, pointing out that the export support disbursement procedures are taking place through four banks: the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and the Export Development Bank.
She explained that the positive impact of immediate cash payment initiatives to support exporters was reflected in Egyptian exports achieving a growth of 13% to $27.5bn during the first 9 months of 2022.
