Reform measures contribute in supporting Egypt’s economy

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Wed, 08 Aug 2018 - 11:17 GMT

BY

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 - 11:17 GMT

FILE - Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli

FILE - Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli

CAIRO – 8 August 2018: Reform measures in Egypt, including the liberalization of the currency, restructure of energy subsidies and increasing wages and pensions, contributed in supporting the indicators of the Egyptian Economy, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said.

During a speech on behalf of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi at the annual meetings of the Board of Governors of the Association of African Central Banks, Madbouli affirmed that foreign reserves exceeded $44 billion in July 2018, and growth rate reached 5.2 percent in the first half of the current year.

“Egypt is keen to fully cooperate with Africa;the country worked on signing free trade area agreements between the continent's economic blocs and worked on other means of supporting economic cooperation,” Madbouli noted.

The prime minister stressedthe importance of carrying out the financial and structural reforms,and of boosting mutual cooperation to faceeconomic challenges of African countries through discussions of the annual meetings of the Association of African Central Banks held in Egypt.

"Together we can put Africa on the map of the world economy," Madbouli pointed out.

He affirmed that the economic reforms in Egypt were praised by the international agencies, noting that Egypt aims at sharing its expertise in this field with the African countries.

Egypt is involved in international trade deals that came into action in the recent period.

The Mercosur Agreement, which is a free-trade agreement signed by Egypt and Mercosur countries in 2010, includes immediate customs clearance for 63 percent of the exports of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to Egypt.

The Mercosur trade deal covers food, cars, auto parts and industrial supplies; it was signed by Egypt and Mercosur members in 2010, but only came into force in 2017.

Another trade agreement that Egypt is involved in is the deal with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which represents a free trade area with 19 member states stretching from Libya to Swaziland. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area, which had existed since 1981.

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another agreement to ease the trade exchange between countries that have signed it, according to a scheduled timeline and not through an immediate activation of the agreement.

The African Continental Free Trade Area is considered to be the biggest deal ever signed since the World Trade Organization was established; it was signed by 43 countries.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) hosts Wednesday the annual meetings of the Board of Governors of the Association of African Central Banks at its 41stsession in Sharm El-Sheikh under the patronage of President Sisi.

Holding the meetings in Egypt comes in line with the Egyptian efforts to enhance the relationship with the African countries and to expand the common cooperation especially in economy.

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