Egypt disbursed LE 40B during past decade in support of exporters and export goals

Cairo – October 10, 2023: Egypt has disbursed LE 40.7 billion, approx. $1.32 billion, to support exporters in the past decade, reported the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in a recent release, as part of efforts to strengthen the sector and meet the country’s ambitious goals.

Over the past ten years, Egypt’s total exports of locally-made products reached $143.1 billion, with annual exports nearly doubling to $21.2 billion in 2022 from $10.9 billion in 2016.

The Egyptian government remains committed to developing its production and export sector to boost annual exports to $100 billion within five years and has emphasized stimulating investment across all sectors.

A major contributor was the Export Development Fund’s immediate disbursement of export subsidies initiative which aims to alleviate the financial burdens faced by exporting companies. Since its launch in October 2019, the initiative has distributed more than LE 50 billion to exporters, according to the latest reports.

Notably, a rise in exports will support the government’s plans to bring in $191 billion in annual revenues by 2026, up from the current figure of $70 billion, as it aims to bring more hard currency into the country.

Amid the current global economic climate, Egypt successfully increased its foreign reserves, with the Central Bank of Egypt revealing last week that reserves grew by $1 billion by the end of September. This marked the highest amount of hard currency in reserve since 2019.

Egypt’s trade deficit declined to $2.93 billion in July, down from $3.82 billion in the same month in 2022, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics revealed in a separate report yesterday.