Saudi FM Heads Kingdom’s Delegation at Davos

The logo of the WEF on a window of the Congress Center as participants and artificial intelligence generated artwork by Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol are reflected inside the congress center on the eve of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, 14 January 2024. (EPA)
The logo of the WEF on a window of the Congress Center as participants and artificial intelligence generated artwork by Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol are reflected inside the congress center on the eve of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, 14 January 2024. (EPA)
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Saudi FM Heads Kingdom’s Delegation at Davos

The logo of the WEF on a window of the Congress Center as participants and artificial intelligence generated artwork by Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol are reflected inside the congress center on the eve of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, 14 January 2024. (EPA)
The logo of the WEF on a window of the Congress Center as participants and artificial intelligence generated artwork by Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol are reflected inside the congress center on the eve of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, 14 January 2024. (EPA)

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrived in Davos on Sunday heading the Kingdom’s delegation at the 2024 World Economic Forum.

At the global event, the delegation will discuss the greatest regional and international challenges and means to tackle them through dialogue and international cooperation.

It will discuss economic integration, the sustainability of resources, and benefiting from innovation and technical solutions.

It will stress the need to explore opportunities created by emerging technologies and their impact on forging international policies and decision-making.

The delegation will highlight the progress the Kingdom has made in its Vision 2030 and the transformation and development underway in the country in various fields. It will underscore the available investment opportunities in several sectors aimed at achieving a prosperous and diversified economy.



Egypt Approves $91 Billion Budget for 2025/26

 The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Egypt Approves $91 Billion Budget for 2025/26

 The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Egypt's cabinet approved a 4.6 trillion Egyptian pound ($91 billion) draft state budget for the financial year that will begin in July, a government statement said on Wednesday, as it continues to tighten its finances under an IMF program.

Expenditures will rise by 18% and revenue by 19% over the current 2024/25 budget. Revenue is expected to hit 3.1 trillion pounds, working out to a deficit of about 1.5 trillion pounds ($30 billion).

The increased expenditure partly reflects elevated headline inflation, which was running at an annual 12.8% in February.

Financial reforms under an $8 billion financial reform program signed in March 2024 with the International Monetary Fund have helped Egypt bring inflation down from a peak of 38% in September 2023.

The IMF this month approved the disbursement of $1.2 billion to Egypt after its fourth review of the program.

The new budget targets a primary surplus of 795 billion pounds, equal to 4% of GDP, up from the 3.5% primary surplus originally targeted in the 2024/25 budget.

The IMF granted the government a waiver in the fourth review after the surplus came in 0.5% of GDP lower than Egypt's earlier commitment.

In its third review in June, the IMF praised Egypt for its "strict control of spending".

The new budget also lowers public debt to 82.9% of GDP from an expected 92% in 2024/25, the cabinet statement said.

The cabinet said 732.6 billion pounds in spending in the new budget would be allocated for subsidies, grants and social benefits, an increase of 15.2%.

The budget increases commodities and bread subsidies by 20% to 160 billion pounds. It will also include 75 billion pounds to subsidize petroleum products, 75 billion pounds to subsidize electricity and 3.5 billion pounds to subsidize natural gas deliveries to households, the statement added.