By: Heba El-Kordy

Cairo - Mubasher: The Egyptian minister of planning, monitoring and administrative reform said that the ministry is planning to reevaluate its targets for the growth of the economy in the current fiscal year after recent reforms.

Ashraf Al-Arabi told Mubasher on the sidelines of a seminar organized by Eitesal on Tuesaday that the financial and economic implications of the decision to float the local currency and to raise interest rates on the state budget are currently being studied.

Earlier, Egypt announced that it is targeting a growth rate of 5.2% this fiscal year compared to around 4.3% in the previous year.

On 3 November, the central bank of Egypt (CBE) decided to float the local currency and free the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar, it also increased interest rates by 300 points.

When asked about the sovereign investment fund, the minister indicated that the draft of the fund special law has been finished, and that it will be presented to the cabinet and then to the parliament for approval next month.

The government intends to pump EGP 5 billion annually in the fund from the state public budget, in order to attract foreign investments of EGP 20 billion in various investment sectors.