Amer: Egypt must reduce food imports

CAIRO – 31 October 2017: Imports of food industries are placing a burden on the economy as it spans between $10-12 billion annually. “This can’t be continued because it affects our economic policy,” governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer said Tuesday.

In a conference organized by Canada Egypt Business Council, Amer said that reducing food imports is a matter of national security, “we can’t spend $2 billion on imports of wheat and other $2 billion on cooking oil,” he said.

“The private sector should step in and play a role in developing the Egyptian economy,” Amer said, stressing that the government should not be the sole provider of electricity, health, education and food sectors.

Companies operating in Egypt were complaining about the unavailability of dollars and foreign currency, “now we resolved these issues, it is the private sector’s turn,” he said.

Assuring the private sector, Amer said that the inflation rate will decrease by 50 percent over the next year, noting that the investment funds are at $18-19 billion.

Amer said the CBE will focus on increasing exports. “We want exports to reach $40-50 billion,” he said.

Delivering positive messages, Amer said that international financial institutions now want to loan to Egypt, “because they believe in our ability to repay loans,” he said.