Al-Mashat:

● The new fiscal year's plan follows a moderate balanced approach that enhances the economy's resilience and its ability to cope with global crises, while accelerating the pace of comprehensive and sustainable growth.

● We expect a targeted growth rate of 4.5% in the upcoming fiscal year, with the possibility of revision in the event of escalating geopolitical tensions and trade wars.

● The new fiscal year's plan is committed to the public investment ceiling to make room for the private sector.

Today, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, reviewed the key targets and features of the draft Economic and Social Development Plan for the fiscal year 2025/2026 within the framework of the medium-term plan (2025/2026 – 2028/2029), before the House of Representatives, headed by Speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives, H.E. Counselor Dr. Hanafy Gebaly, and in the presence of the esteemed members of the House.

In her speech, H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat referred to the period of work on the draft plan document for the new fiscal year, during which the world witnessed further disturbances and geopolitical tensions against the backdrop of the continuing repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Israeli attacks on Palestinian territories, the increasing intensity of regional conflicts in the Middle East, the proliferation of maritime threats in the Red Sea region, as well as the new American policies regarding customs tariffs.

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat highlighted that the draft plan document has taken into account the adoption of a moderate balanced approach that enhances the resilience of the Egyptian economy and its ability to cope with global crises and exploit potential opportunities to overcome their dimensions, while at the same time, firmly addressing internal challenges by focusing on policies and programs that would confront these challenges and accelerate the pace of comprehensive and sustainable growth.

H.E. Minister Al-Mashat affirmed that the repercussions of international events push us to apply a flexible planning approach, and what it requires in terms of continuous monitoring and review of the plan's targets according to the development of events, pointing to the possibility of revising the targeted growth rate in the plan, which is 4.5%, and reducing it in the event of escalating global and regional geopolitical tensions and their repercussions on the Middle East region, and according to estimates of the severity of potential negative impacts.

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat clarified that the draft development plan for the upcoming fiscal year embodies the new approach adopted by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and International Cooperation after the merger, which is "financing for development," that ensures consistency and linkage between development plans and strategies at the national and sectoral levels, and maximizes the utilization of various funding sources, whether from the state's public treasury or from the flows of concessional development financing from development partners in the bilateral and multilateral frameworks, in a way that serves the state's plans, programs, and development orientations.

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat pointed out that the draft plan takes into account the continued commitment to the set ceiling for public investments within the framework of efforts to rationalize and govern public investments, as it is the basic pillar for achieving macroeconomic stability, and to mobilize other funding sources, whether through attracting foreign direct investment and holding major Arab and regional investment partnerships, and enhancing the state's orientation to make room for the participation of the private sector in development efforts.

During her speech, H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat reviewed the main pillars of the new fiscal year's plan targets and the government's policies and work programs, which include formulating a new methodology for preparing the draft development plan document for the year 2025/2026, taking into account that the preparation of the annual plan is within a medium-term budgetary framework (2025/2026-2028/2029) which includes the budget year and three subsequent years. 

This is to unify the time horizon of the plan from the perspective of the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Finance, and that the medium-term budgetary framework is prepared in consultation, coordination, and cooperation with all ministries, public bodies, governorates, the private sector, and civil society, affirming the participatory approach that the state follows in development efforts and within the framework of commitment to the implementation of the Public Planning Law No. 18 of 2022, the Unified Public Finance Law No. (6) of 2022 and its executive regulations.

The Minister of Planning and Economic Development and International Cooperation continued that the preparation of the draft plan document is carried out according to a comprehensive development perspective based on fundamental pillars starting from the targets and initiatives of Egypt's Vision 2030, and in integration with the government's work program (2024/2025-2026/2027) and spatial and sectoral strategies and plans, and within the framework of the effective application of efforts aimed at stimulating the role of the private sector in sustainable development in implementation of the State Ownership Policy Document.

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat pointed to the adoption of advanced planning tools developed by the Ministry to raise the efficiency of public investment, follow up on international financing and public investments, monitor and evaluate performance, and coordinate and cooperate with relevant ministries and entities to improve the quality of development plans by providing all assignment entities with a guide for preparing the plan, which determines the criteria for selecting projects, the criteria for conducting and evaluating economic feasibility studies, and the criteria for evaluating public investment for each assignment entity, and mechanisms for shifting from focusing on the quality of projects to the quality of policies. In addition to this, the Ministry provides spatial information supporting the planning process through the spatial information infrastructure system.

H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat reiterated that this comprehensive developmental approach to preparing the plan facilitates the effective participation of each ministry – and its affiliated bodies – in carrying out its responsibilities and assigned tasks, whether in preparing, implementing, or monitoring the plan.

It has become imperative for each ministry to define the role assigned to it for implementation in line with Egypt's Vision 2030, the government's work program, and relevant sectoral and spatial strategies, and to analyze the current status of investment plan projects and direct public investments to priority projects supporting sustainable development according to a declared vision of these priorities and related policies and procedures. In addition to studying and following up on presidential assignments, national projects, and ongoing protocols related to each ministry, and analyzing the implementation mechanisms adopted by each ministry to achieve its relevant development targets, and identifying the performance indicator gap for each work mechanism, as well as providing a set of quantitatively measurable planning tools that help each ministry in evaluating performance and improving the quality of the planning process.