By: Mahmoud Salah El Din
Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian government is planning to boost support for exports to reach EGP 6 billion in the new budget for 2016-2017, said minister of trade and industry Tarek Kabil on Sunday.
The Cabinet has approved raising export support and is awaiting parliamentary approval, the minister added in statements on the sidelines of a conference for entrepreneurship and small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The government previously approved the budget for 2015-2016 with export support at EGP 2.6 billion.
The deficit in the government's general budget has increased by 20% in the July-February period of the fiscal year 2015-2016, the finance ministry said in its March report.
Egyptian exports grew in Q1-16 by $200 million, whereas imports were down by $2.8 billion, the minister revealed.
Egypt has suffered a decline in its foreign currency reserves from $36 billion before 25 January 2011 to $17 billion in April 2016, according to official data by the Central Bank of Egypt.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
