On 20 June, Egypt’s Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, informed the country’s parliament that the country had lost EGP 440 billion (USD 23.4 billion) over the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian War. The statistic was a part of Maait’s speech to parliamentarians regarding Egypt’s proposed budget for the 2022/23 fiscal year. “Without these two crises, Egypt would have saved USD 7.5 billion,” Maait stated. Maait further emphasized that many sectors, particularly tourism and civil aviation, suffered significant losses over the past two years. “The government is doing its best to contain the negative impact of these two crises and make sure that all food and fuel products are available on the market,” he added. Maait’s speech comes a day before members of parliament (MP) are to vote on the Budget Committee’s proposed budget and plan for the coming year. The vote comes after parliament’s prior two-day session to discuss budget allocations. Debts, inflation, subsidies: the concerns of the country Certain MPs have questioned the government’s project planning in light of the current economic struggles. Veteran MP Mustafa Bakri believes that certain megaprojects should be…
