Minister of Finance Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali and Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohie Eddin and the regional director of the Euromoney Conference 31st session of  the largest gathering of world investors in Cairo, 20/10/2008  in the presence of 600 major investors.

"The Egyptian economy is steadily going ahead, overcoming the current global financial crisis," Minister of Finance Dr. Youssef Butros Ghali said during inaugurating the annual Euromoney Conference.

He said growth rate would range from 6-7.2 percent and this is a safe rate adding that Egypt will not be affected by the current global financial crisis, as most of the Egyptian investments are not invested in foreign capital markets.

He said the financial sector in Egypt is not facing any problem as Egypt possesses enough liquidity.

Minister Ghali said the current global financial crisis is a good timing for expanding infrastructures, opening new markets, and establishing more factories and companies at much less costs and for investing in education and human resources.

He said a sum of L.E. 15 billion will be injected into infrastructures in cooperation between the government and the private sector along a period of five years, adding that these projects include building hospitals, schools, drinking water and sanitary drainage projects.

The Minister of Finance said budget deficit would register 6.9 percent of the gross domestic product.

He said the government gives more attention to exports promotion programs in order to enhance their competitiveness on the foreign markets with the aim of avoiding the effects of the global crisis.

Dr. Ghali said there would be no problem in solving the problem of attracting foreign investments to Egypt, mainly the Gulf investments.

He said the current decline in prices of oil will not last for a long time, adding that prices would increase once more as oil will remain the key source of energy and Gulf States revenues. He said this will encourage Gulf States to invest in Egypt.

Meanwhile, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohie Eddin said in his statement before the annual Euromoney conference achieving such goal requires providing lands for new investment ventures, promoting cooperation between the Investment Ministry and the Industrial Development Authority.

According to the Minister, the government has taken a number of measures to encourage investments, including efforts to stabilize energy costs for the various projects, especially on the heels of an oil price fall to 76 dollors per barrel.

Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohie Eddin said the Egyptian economy enjoys a state of stability that would help it promptly overcome the current international financial turmoil.

According to the Minister, the economic growth rate reached 7.2 percent in the fiscal 2007/2008 compared to 7.1 percent for the fiscal year 2006/2007.

He added that inflation rates would decrease in the fiscal year 2008/2009.