Arab Republic of Egypt

No amount/estimate: (i) 20 March 2020, The central bank has reduced the policy rate by 300 bps to 9.25%; (ii) 24 March 2020, preferential interest rate on loans to tourism has been reduced from 10% to 5%, for SMEs. As of 24 June 2020, this measure has already been reversed; (iii) 24 March 2020, preferential interest rate on loans to industry and housing for low-income and middle-class families has been reduced from 10% to 8%. As of 24 June 2020, the new rate now applies to tourism, industry, agriculture and construction sectors as well; (iv) 25 September 2020, The Egyptian Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) reduced its overnight rates by 50bps each, with the lending rate down to 9.75% and the deposit rate down to 8.75%; (v) 12 November 2020, These rates were again reduced by 50bps each, with the overnight lending rate now down to 9.25% and the overnight deposit rate down to 8.25%; (vi) 5 February 2021, the Central Bank has made announcements that it has kept its key interest rates on hold; (vii) 19 March 2021, the Central Bank has announced again that it has kept its key interest rates on hold.

(i) Regulations issued last year requiring banks to obtain detailed information of borrowers have been relaxed; (ii) Suspension of credit score blacklists for irregular clients and waiver of court cases for defaulted customers have been announced; (iii) 12 January 2021, Egypt's central bank bans banks from paying dividends to shareholders to protect capital amid the COVID-19 crisis; (iv) 23 February 2021, The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has directed banks to increase their lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from 20% to 25% of the bank's credit facilities portfolio. This is expected to inject EGP117 billion into MSMEs until the end of December 2022.

(i) No amount/estimate: The moratorium on the tax law on agricultural land has been extended for 2 years; (ii) No amount/estimate: Capital gains tax has been postponed until further notice; (iii) No amount/estimate: Three months extension for the payment of property taxes for companies in the industrial and tourism sector; (iv) No amount/estimate: Extension of the individuals’ annual tax return filing deadline to 16 April instead of 31 March, and exemption of the tax returns online filing subscription fee for the use of the Egyptian Tax Authority online filing portal; (v) No amount/estimate: A Corona tax of 1% on all public and private sector salaries and 0.5% on state pensions have been imposed, the proceeds of which are earmarked for sectors and SMEs most affected by the pandemic; (vi) 7 March 2021, Payroll tax filing has been extended from end of February to end of March. This is the third one-month extension. The first was in late December 2020 to the end of January 2021. According to the ministry, this is also the last extension of this nature.

(i) No amount/estimate: The stamp duty on transactions and tax on dividends have been reduced; (ii) 17 June 2020, EGP5.3 billion in exemptions to natural gas consumers from penalty fine for late payments; (iii) No amount/estimate: 21 June 2020, Extended until 15 September 2020, the exemption from all fees & commissions for local transfers in EGP. On 15 September 2020, this was again extended until 21 December 2020; (iv) 18 September 2020, Reduction in customs duties by rates exceeding 50% of their current levels on some components of the furniture, petrochemical and durable electrical appliances industries such as refrigerators and televisions, as well as for mass transit vehicles and vehicle supply stations with electric and gas power.

(i) No amount/estimate: 22 March 2020, Pension benefits have been increased by 14%; (ii) No amount/estimate: 22 March 2020, Expansion of the targeted cash transfer social programs, Takaful and Karama, are also being extended to reach more families; (iii) No amount/estimate: 22 March 2020, A targeted support initiative for irregular workers in most severely hit sectors has been announced, which will entail EGP500 in monthly grants for 3 months; (iv) EGP50 million allocated by the Ministry of Workforce for irregular workers, including women, who lost their job due to the coronavirus; (v) No amount/estimate: 23 July 2020, the new consumer spending initiative will also include discounts on selected consumer goods, the details of which are yet to be announced; Bonus for workers in the petroleum sector worth 12% of the basic wage for a worker on 30 June 2020, with a minimum of EGP75 added to the basic wage. Bonus for workers in the workers in "the shareholding corporate sector" side of the petroleum industry get a bonus worth 12% of their basic wages with a minimum of EGP75 and a maximum of EGP300; (vi) EGP500 support total for tour guides. Disbursement begins with an EGP100 disbursement on 8 September 2020; (vii) 10 October 2020, EGP2.3 billion in support to state employees through salary hikes between EGP50 and EGP55; (viii) 27 October 2020, EGP1 billion to support equal educational opportunities for students. This includes support for one million school students from families who have been rejected from the Takaful program, bringing the total number of students who are supported to 4.4 million students, of whom 2.4 million students are supported through the Takaful program and 2 million students are rejected from the program.

(i) EGP1 billion in arrears will be paid out to exporters; (ii) No amount/estimate: 22 March 2020, Energy costs have been lowered for the entire industrial sector; (iii) No amount/estimate: 22 March 2020, Real estate tax relief has been provided for industrial and tourism sectors, (iv) No amount/estimate: 22 March 2020, Subsidy pay-out for exporters has been stepped up, and discount on fuel price has been announced for the aviation sector; (v) 22 March 2020, EGP50 billion of the EGP91 billion stimulus has been announced for the tourism sector, which contributes close to 12% of Egypt’s GDP, 10% of employment, and almost 4% of GDP in terms of receipts, as of 2019; (vi) EGP1 billion in arrears will be paid out by The Export Subsidy Fund in March and April 2020, plus 10% in cash payments to exporters in June 2020; (vii) No amount/estimate: 4 January 2020, Government will bear the financing for the loan on the same date in Measure 3A until the airline can report to 80% of its pre-COVID capacity; (viii) 21 January 2021, The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced support for the tourism sector (including aviation), with measures such as discounts on the price of fuel for up to 15 cents a gallon in order to contribute to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic on these two vital sectors; (ix) 21 February 2021, EGP2 billion in tranches from the Central Bank of Egypt to support the tourism sector amidst the pandemic. The Egyptian Central Bank said that the scheme will apply to financing the replacement and renewal of tourism facilities that already exist and not those under construction.

(i) 7 January 2021, The Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities has launched a domestic tourism initiative aimed at spurring tourism in the country by reducing domestic airline prices that connects tourist cities within Egypt. This measure is set to end on 28 February 2021, and aims to help the tourism industry and its workers amidst the pandemic; (ii) 28 February 2021, This initiative has been extended until 15 May 2021.

Multiple packages have been announced by the government to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19, totalling about EGP91 billion for nonhealth measures, EGP41 billion of which have no breakdown. This is part of the EGP102.18 billion (1.8% of GDP) announced on 22 March 2020 as the total of stimulus policies to be enacted by the government to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19.

(i) 2 April 2020, USD7.9 million funds from the World Bank through activating the Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) under the “Transforming Egypt’s Healthcare System Project”, designated for emergency response activities related to the COVID-19 outbreak in Egypt. This measure is reflected in 5A; (ii) 11 May 2020, USD2.772 billion in emergency support from the International Monetary Fund to address the COVID-19 Pandemic. As of 1 October 2020, the agreement was ratified by the President of Egypt; (iii) 17 May 2020, USD50 million in World Bank aid for Egypt as an emergency response under the new Fast Track COVID-19 Facility; (iv) 27 May 2020, USD0.5 million emergency assistance grant from the African Development Bank Group to Egypt to provide food relief, and to contribute to restoring the livelihood of vulnerable populations severely affected by the pandemic; (v) 5 June 2020, USD5.2 billion Stand-By Arrangement were agreed upon by Egyptian Authorities and the International Monetary Fund, aiming to alleviate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping maintain macroeconomic stability, strengthen the social safety net, and support reforms to spur private-sector-led growth and job creation. On 26 June 2020, this was approved by IMF's Executive Board; (vi) 16 June 2020, USD400 million provided by the World Bank as support for the Universal Health Insurance System, to protect the most vulnerable from high health expenses due to the pandemic; (vii) 17 June 2020, the African Development Bank Group approved a EUR225 million loan to finance Egypt’s Electricity and Green Growth Support Program (EGGSP). The funding will help meet the Government of Egypt’s financing requirements in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and support a sound electricity infrastructure base; (viii) 29 July 2020, the Arab Monetary Fund extended a USD639 million credit facility to help the country reform its public finance sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic; (ix) 25 August 2020, USD2.73 million grant from the Government of Japan and UNDP to address the Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 in Egypt through human security approach; (x) 3 September 2020, the Finance Ministry announced that Egype signed a USD2 billion conventional and islamic loan with several international and regional banks. This is meant to close the gap in its 2020/2021 budget wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic; (xi) Egypt’s National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed an agreement worth EUR1.9 billion, where EUR1.1 billion will be provided for the transport sector and EUR800 million for SMEs; (xii) 21 October 2020, USD9.5 million grant from Japan to support the health sector against coronavirus; (xiii) 5 November 2020, USD112.5 million worth of agreements between the US and Egypt amid the pandemic, in various sectors such as health, higher education, and scientific research; (xiv) 12 December 2020, USD96 million support from the EU in two tranches to combat the coronavirus pandemic; (xv) 14 December 2020, the United Kingdom is committing USD1,238,102 through the World Health Organization to strengthen Egypt’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and allow the WHO to provide essential medical supplies and e-training to staff, among others; (xvi) 15 December 2020, South Korea delivers medical supplies worth USD0.5 million to support Egypt's anti-COVID response activities; (xvii) 31 December 2020, the European Investment Bank is providing Banque Misr with a EUR425 million credit line to support Egyptian private small and medium-sized enterprises that have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and boost their ability to lead the economic recovery in the country; (xviii) 21 January 2021, Egypt's Ministry of Social Solidarity has received aid from the European Union and the United Nations Development Program on the project "Supporting the Response to Covid 19" with a value of EUR6 million and a period of three years; (xix) 16 February 2021, the International Committee of the Red Cross is donating medical supplies, protective gear to health facilities in North Sinai; (xx) 23 February 2021, Egypt receives 300,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine granted by China; (xxi) 1 April 2021, 854,400 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine have been shipped by the COVAX facility to Egypt; (xxii) 10 May 2021, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has donated protective equipment, oxygen concentrators to the Egyptian health ministry amid the COVID-19 pandemic.