Arab Finance: Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El Khatib and Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk outlined the new export burdens refund program for fiscal year (FY) 2025/2026, as per an official statement.
Kouchouk highlighted that the government’s top priority is stimulating exports and enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy, adding that EGP 45 billion has been allocated in next year's budget to finance the new export support program.
The two ministries will join forces to back the state's commitment to supporting industries capable of growth, competition, and access to global markets.
The finance minister added that a total of EGP 70 billion was disbursed to more than 2,800 exporting companies between 2019 and 2024.
The exporters' dues for FY 2024/2025 were paid within a maximum of 90 days for the first time, he noted.
Meanwhile, the new program covers key themes, such as doubling its allocations to EGP 45 billion for FY 2025/2026. This includes EGP 38 billion distributed across targeted sectors and EGP 7 billion as a flexible budget.
The program will create an integrated economic model for distributing allocations among export councils, including value added by 50%, export growth rate by 30%, production capacity by 10%, and number of employees by 10%.
Kouchouk also set basic determinants that include export value and added value, while the additional determinants covered support for international exhibitions, target markets, shipping, trademarks, geographical incentives, transportation, and logistics.
A flexible mechanism has also been established to calculate the percentages of additional determinants in line with the needs of each sector.
He also stated that the flexible budget, valued at EGP 7 billion, will target products to achieve a leap in exports, particularly in the engineering and chemical industries, as a transitional phase.
This strategy aims to attract global companies and support leading companies, while investing in infrastructure that promotes exports.