Arab Finance: Egypt implemented 508 measures to support the private sector in 2025, accounting for 50.4% of the reforms introduced between May 2022 and December 2025, according to a report by the Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).
The report tracked 1,008 measures adopted over the period to address obstacles facing private businesses, increase their contribution to gross domestic product (GDP), create jobs, and raise investment and export levels.
Osama El-Gohary, Assistant to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the IDSC, said the measures reflected the government’s commitment to advancing private sector-led economic growth, a central objective of the State Ownership Policy Document.
The reforms covered six areas: monetary and exchange-rate policies, competition and competitive neutrality, industrial development, investment and the business environment, legal and institutional frameworks, and implementation of the State Ownership Policy Document.
Measures supporting investment and improving the business environment represented the largest category, with 476 reforms. Another 227 measures addressed legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks. Combined, the two areas accounted for 69.7% of all measures implemented between May 2022 and December 2025.
A similar pattern emerged in 2025, when the government implemented 287 investment and business environment measures and 99 legal and institutional reforms. Together, they represented around 76% of the year’s 508 measures.
On monetary policy, the report said the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) continued working to achieve price stability, support economic activity, and maintain a flexible exchange-rate regime.
The EGP appreciated by 6.1% against the USD in 2025, its strongest annual performance during the period covered by the report. Headline inflation fell to 14.1%, while core inflation declined to 12.1%, compared with 28.3% and 27.2%, respectively, in 2024.
In the area of competition and competitive neutrality, the government implemented 26 measures between May 2022 and December 2025.
Among them was the Cabinet’s approval of draft amendments to the Protection of Competition and Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices Law, which were subsequently referred to the House of Representatives.
The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) examined and ruled on 3,381 cases following the implementation of its 2021-2025 strategy, compared with 401 decisions between 2014 and 2020, an increase of 743%.
The ECA was also named a winner of the 2025 Competition Advocacy Contest organized by the World Bank Group and the International Competition Network (ICN) for an initiative promoting competition across the education sector. The report also highlighted recognition received by the authority through the Antitrust Writing Awards and a competition policy award.
Industrial development accounted for 220 reforms, or 21.8% of the measures implemented between May 2022 and December 2025.
The measures included new procedures governing the leasing of factories and the allocation of industrial land to eligible investors. The government also offered 1,128 plots across 26 industrial zones in 16 governorates and made 386 vacant units in 12 industrial complexes available through the Egypt Industrial Hub.
Industrial activity also expanded in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), as the number of operating factories reached 204, alongside 173 facilities under construction. Investments in projects that had begun operations by April 2026 exceeded $6.5 billion.
The report said these measures coincided with a recovery in non-petroleum manufacturing, which grew by 14.7% in fiscal year (FY) 2024/2025 after two years of contraction, making it one of Egypt’s fastest-growing sectors during the year.
Non-petroleum manufacturing contributed 1.7 percentage points to Egypt’s overall economic growth rate of 4.4% in FY 2024/2025. Meanwhile, non-petroleum merchandise exports rose by 17.3% year on year (YoY) to approximately $48.679 billion in 2025.
Investment and business environment reforms represented the largest pillar, comprising 476 measures, or 47.2% of the total implemented between May 2022 and December 2025.
As part of these efforts, the Cabinet continued granting Golden Licenses, bringing the number issued to approximately 54 by April 2026. The government also began trial operations of the unified electronic platform for investment licenses and piloted a package of digital investor services.
The Ministry of Industry launched the Support Investors mobile application to receive complaints from industrial investors. In April 2025, the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation introduced the second phase of the HAFIZ platform, which connects private companies with financial and technical assistance.
By March 2026, the platform offered more than 90 services provided by 40 development partners.
The General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) also activated a service allowing limited liability companies to be established exclusively through its unified electronic platform, eliminating the need for applicants to visit the authority’s headquarters or branches. Similar digital incorporation services were already available to sole proprietorships and partnerships.
To support industrial, agricultural, and renewable energy activities, the government allocated EGP 90 billion in financing facilities at interest rates capped at 15% during FY 2025/2026.
It also introduced a new export support program in June 2025, allocating EGP 45 billion in the 2025/2026 budget to support economic, productive, industrial, and export activities.
Tax reforms formed another part of the investment package. The Ministry of Finance introduced an initial set of 20 incentives and procedural facilitations. According to the report, tax revenues subsequently rose by 35%, or EGP 600 billion, without the introduction of new tax burdens.
The ministry later announced a second package comprising 25 measures intended to address investor requests, expand the tax base, and support compliant taxpayers.
Government cooperation with the banking sector also reduced customs clearance time to 5.8 days, cutting associated time and costs by 65% and generating estimated savings of $1.5 billion.
El-Gohary said investment contributed 2.45 percentage points to economic growth during the first quarter (Q1) of FY 2025/2026, reflecting stronger capital formation.
At constant prices, private investment reached EGP 590.7 billion in FY 2024/2025, representing 57% of total implemented investments, excluding inventory.
The report added that 450 foreign companies applied to establish businesses in Egypt between the beginning of March and April 2, 2026. It linked the applications to measures including a digital licensing platform offering 440 investment services and a one-stop-shop system that reduced transaction times to five minutes from 30 minutes.
Legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms comprised 227 measures, accounting for 22.5% of the total implemented between May 2022 and December 2025.
The government also continued updating the State Ownership Policy Document and publishing periodic implementation assessments. The third report on the implementation of the policy was released in August 2025.
Implementation of the four phases of Egypt’s privatization program reached approximately 48% between March 2022 and June 2025, generating proceeds of $5.86 billion.
The performance index measuring implementation of the State Ownership Policy Document rose to 148.5 points in the first half (H1) of 2025 from 143.8 points in H2 2024, an improvement of 4.7 points.
