Official: Egypt May Impose 5% Tax on the Rich

Wealthy people in Egypt may be faced with a 5 percent wealth tax for 2 or 3 years, the country’s minister of finance told reporters on Wednesday.

Egypt’s newly-appointed Finance Minister Hany Qadry Demian said in a press conference today the government is considering to impose a 5 percent tax on the high-income Egyptians to last for around two or three years. The tax proposal was made by a group of local businessmen and sent to the former government led by ex-prime minister Hazem el-Beblawi, Demian added.

Egypt’s economy is striving for recovery from the turmoil that followed its 2011 revolution in which people had rallied “for bread, freedom, social justice and human dignity”.