Cairo: Egypt is aiming to raise its economic growth rate to seven percent by 2030, compared with 4.5 percent in the current fiscal year, according to Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation. Speaking at the official launch of the National Economic Development Narrative: Policies Supporting Employment-led Growth, Al-Mashat explained that the strategy seeks to increase total investments as a share of GDP to 18 percent by 2030, up from 15.2 percent in this year's plan.
According to State Information Service Egypt, the narrative also sets out to raise the share of private investment within total investments to 66 percent, up from 60 percent, while boosting private investment's contribution to GDP to 11.9 percent, compared with 9.1 percent. By 2030, the private sector is projected to account for 82 percent of GDP. Sustainability is also a cornerstone of the plan. Green public investments are expected to represent between 70 and 75 percent of total public investments by 2030, compared with 50 percent in the current fiscal year.
The strategy further aims to generate 1.5 million new jobs annually, an increase from 900,000 today, highlighting efforts to expand employment opportunities across the economy. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, speaking at the opening session of the national dialogue on the new narrative, emphasized that the government is determined to reduce Egypt's debt levels to the lowest point in the country's history. He described the present global economic climate as the most challenging in a century, marked by volatility, uncertainty, and overlapping crises, and noted that Egypt has prepared for worst-case scenarios in order to meet its growth targets.
Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk outlined the medium-term fiscal framework supporting the narrative. It includes reforms to the tax and customs systems and measures to restore trust in revenue administration. He reported that tax revenues grew by roughly 35 percent in fiscal year 2024/2025 without the introduction of new taxes. He also noted that the government aims to cut public debt to below 80 percent of GDP in the medium term, with an official ceiling set at LE 16.4 trillion.
Plans also include reducing external debt by between one and two billion dollars annually, while diversifying sources of external financing to lower costs and extend repayment terms. Kouchouk added that a total of LE 19.3 billion has been disbursed under the export subsidy repayment program across fiscal years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026, with an additional LE 3 billion currently in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Development and Minister of Transport and Industry, presented an urgent plan to accelerate industrial growth. The strategy is built on seven main pillars, focusing particularly on expanding local manufacturing by creating new industries that can meet domestic market needs and reduce dependence on imports. It also aims to broaden the industrial base to support exports, especially in sectors that rely on raw materials and resources already available in Egypt, or where local production technologies can be effectively developed.