Momtaz al-Saeed, a member of the National Investment Bank, affirmed that the value of the second stimulus package has yet to be determined.
There are two opinions about the second package, according to Saeed. The first is to make it worth LE30 billion, divided between LE20 billion as investment and LE10 billion to fund the minimum wage. The second opinion is to make the package worth LE20 billion, divided equally between investments and minimum wages.
The Egyptian government has decided to increase the minimum wage limit from LE700 to LE1200, starting at the beginning of this year.
The government finished introducing the first package to stimulate the economy at the end of October 2013, with the value of LE29.7 billion, and announced its intention to launch a second stimulus package.
“Government agencies have not yet finished implementing the projects entrusted to the first package,” Saeed pointed out.
“Government agencies, during the past three years, have not been adhering to the implementation state investment plans, and are failing to launch tenders to implement projects, which is what makes the state plans for investment not paying off, and which also made the ratios of project implemented through the first stimulus package too low,” he said.
The allocations for public investment in the state budget rose to LE80 billion after the first stimulus package, according to Saeed, although the level of project implementation is low.
A report on the performance of government agencies and ministries on investments during the 2012-2013 fiscal year showed low rates of public investment.
The report said the Ministry of Housing spent only 1 percent out of the LE8 billion of investments listed in its budget, while the Higher Education Ministry spent 11 percent and the Education Ministry spent 15 percent.
Edited translation from Anadolu Agency
