Egypt unveils initiative to boost consumer spending benefiting 64 million citizens: El Said

A new package of measures designed to push the economy through its demand slump aims to stimulate up to 100 billion Egyptian pounds of spending activity and boost demand of local products, Planning Minister Hala El Said announced.

Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a number of national projects, the minister said that the government has signed number of agreements with manufacturers and merchants to offer average discounts of up to 20 percent on consumer goods, with ration card holders able to receive an additional 10 percent off select products.

The number of beneficiaries of this initiative is around 64 million citizens holding 22 million of the ration card, the minister added

The government is yet to provide details on how it is negotiating discounts with businesses, how much it plans to spend on the initiative, and what types of goods or services may be part of the program.

The initiative will be launched in the final week of July, according to the Federation of Egyptian Industries.