Faika El Refaie, former sub-governor of Central Bank of Egypt, said there are a funding gap of 2.5% between the volume of the needed investments and the volume of domestic savings.

The targeted growth rate is 4% for this year, meaning that investments shall register 15.2% of the gross domestic product. However, gross savings rate registered 12.7% of the gross domestic rate, meaning there is a funding gap of 2.5%, El Refaie added.

This came on the sidelines of the seminar organized by Egyptian Center for Economic Studies under the slogan of “Priorities of Monetary Policies in Egypt” that discussed the monetary policies amid the implications of last year’s revolution.

Ahmed El-Darsh, former minister of planning, said the current ministries are unable to solve the budget deficit problem because of the current unrest and the unclear view.

El-Darsh affirmed that the government shall rationalize expenditures and subsidies in order to overcome the negative implications of the transitional period without increasing the burden on the public budget.