Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian government currently seeks to boost economic growth, bring down the inflation rate to single digits, and cut debt service through short- and medium-term strategies, the finance minister Mohamed Maait said.

The most populous Arab nation plans to raise the maturity on its debt instruments, along with lowering interest rates, Maait added in a statement on Sunday.

The government aims to diversify its investor base and issue treasury bills (T-bills) and treasury bonds (T-bonds) at 40% and 60%, respectively, of its annual local debt issuance by 2022, he remarked.

Egypt has become one of the fastest growing economies among emerging markets at 5.6% in fiscal year 2018/2019, with expectations to expand by 6% in FY19/20, thanks to the country’s economic reforms, he highlighted.

The North African nation’s budget deficit is also forecast to narrow to 7.2% in FY19/20 and 6.2% in FY20/21, he noted.

 Maait also revealed that the government’s privatisation programme to list 23 state-run companies on the Egyptian bourse will be announced within the next 24-30 months.

Moreover, the country plans to sign public private partnership (PPP) agreements in new sectors such as electricity and gas in the coming period, he added.