Cabinet greenlit amendments to the Unified Budget Act aimed at improving budget indicators so they’re more in line with international standards, during its weekly meeting last Thursday. Under the amendments, the budgets of all 59 of the state’s economic bodies will be laid out in the state budget, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said.

What we know about the act: Approved by the House in 2022, the law requires the government to be more transparent in how it plans public finances, forcing it to present an annual medium-term budgetary and fiscal strategy to the House and set spending limits for each ministry.

ALSO APPROVED-

#1- Public-sector wage, pension hikes that were introduced by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi a day earlier to alleviate the effects of the ongoing economic crisis on citizens.The measures approved by the cabinet include a 50% hike to the public sector minimum wage to EGP 6k, a 15% increase in pension payouts, and salary increases for those in the education and healthcare sectors.

#2- A draft law that would allow the private sector to build, manage, and operate state-run health facilities. The bill, if passed, would authorize the government to award local and foreign investors 3-15 year contracts, at the end of which the awarded parties will be required to hand over all the medical equipment it used to run the facilities to the government.

#3- Amendments to oil agreements that aim to bring in more investments into the sector. The amendments apply to two agreements inked between the General Petroleum Corporation and local and international firms for the exploration of oil in West Delta and Gulf of Suez. Under the amendments, the firms will have to drill no less than 8 wells and invest some USD 232 mn.

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