Egypt aims to establish an asset liquidation committee under the Ministry of Finance with the goal of generating 20 to 25 billion Egyptian pounds annually for the state treasury from divestment proceeds over the coming years, according to the government’s new three-year plan, the Masrawy website reported.
The government had divested state-owned assets worth about $5.6 billion two years ago since launching the initial public offerings (IPOs) program in March 2023, as previously stated by former Finance Minister Mohamed Maait in press statements.
He added that the government is targeting revenues of up to $6.5 billion from the government IPO program by the end of 2024, according to a previous ministerial statement.
The state announced in February 2023 the listing of 32 companies in the IPO program with the aim of the state divesting its shares in companies and banks in favor of foreign and local investors in order to attract foreign currency resources.
According to the new government plan document for the next three years, the government aims to allocate 1% of GDP from divestment proceeds to the general state budget to reduce the debt of budget agencies.
The government aims to reduce the debt service bill of budget agencies to reach 42.6 percent of public expenditures in the fiscal year 2026-2027 as part of an integrated strategy to put the debt rate on a downward path.
The Ministry of Finance had previously announced that it aims through the new budget for the next fiscal year 2024-2025 to record a primary surplus of 3.5 percent, with a reduction in public debt to about 88.2 percent of the country’s GDP, to decline to 80 percent by the end of the fiscal year 2026-2027, within the framework of a mandatory public debt ceiling.
