The Cabinet submitted an action plan to President Mohamed Morsy in a meeting Tuesday that, according to Prime Minister Hesham Qandil, emphasizes the objectives of the revolution — focusing on human development, economic reform and social justice.
The plan aims to achieve high sustainable growth rates through encouraging investments, reducing subsidies, adopting progressive taxation, and developing a comprehensive economic reform plan to address the flaws of the general budget, Qandil said.
The Cabinet issued a statement Tuesday stressing that the plan was developed by a number of experts and specialists in different fields over three months. It added that the Cabinet faced many obstacles, including widespread financial and administrative corruption and the absence of social justice. The statement pointed out that low-income people benefit from only 10 percent of energy subsidies, equal to LE117 billion.
At the end of June, the statement said, the unemployment rate was 13 percent, 25 percent of the population was living below the poverty line, and the budget deficit was LE168 billion.
The Cabinet's plan is divided into three parts: a short-term plan from 2012 to 2014, a medium-term plan from 2012 to 2017, and a long-term plan from 2017 to 2022, the statement added.
The plan aims to achieve economic growth at an average of seven percent per year until 2022, in addition to providing no less than 800,000 job opportunities before the end of the current fiscal year and increasing local and foreign investments to LE167 billion.
The statement said that the new plan aims to enable lower-income people to benefit from subsidies through reforming the bread and butane gas distribution system, increasing gas prices for energy-intensive industries, and distributing gasoline and diesel fuel through smart cards.
The Cabinet's plan includes a development project for Sinai worth LE1 billion. Funding for this project would be included in the budget for fiscal year 2012/2013, the statement said, adding that the Cabinet is aiming for the resettlement of nearly 1.5 million citizens in Sinai.
The plan also calls for upgrading health care programs, increasing allocations to the health sector and the improvement of health services.
The statement said that in order to ensure that the plan's objectives are met, a stable political climate should be provided through commitment to democracy, enforcement of the law, and protection of human rights, freedom of opinion, and equality.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
