Egypt’s Finance Ministry: Over 100 Companies Use E-Invoice System

Egypt's Ministry of Finance. (Reuters)
Egypt's Ministry of Finance. (Reuters)
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Egypt’s Finance Ministry: Over 100 Companies Use E-Invoice System

Egypt's Ministry of Finance. (Reuters)
Egypt's Ministry of Finance. (Reuters)

More than 100 companies in Egypt use the country’s recently launched electronic invoice (e-invoice) system, revealed Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.

In a press statement on Saturday, he said all of these companies’ transactions, including those from sales and purchases, are received on the system.

He pointed to the cabinet’s decision, which stipulates that all state agencies and companies “will only deal with financiers who have joined the e-invoice system starting from the beginning of July 2021.”

Under the decision, all ministries, state agencies, government departments, public sector companies, holdings and subsidiary public business sector companies are required to use the e-invoice system in the sale of goods and services.

Maait explained that the decision has also required all local administration units, public service and economic bodies, companies that the state and other public legal persons contribute to their capital by over 50 percent and those that sell goods or services to join the e-invoice system that was established by the Tax Authority.

It also obligated these companies not to contract with any suppliers, contractors or service providers until after they are registered in the system no later than July 2021.

According to Maait, the ministry is seeking to bolster governance and taxation in a way that ensures the right of the state, lay the foundation for just taxation, reduces tax evasion and merges the informal economy wit the formal one.

This would ultimately benefit the citizens and improve services provided to them, he added.

Head of the Tax Authority, Reda Abdul Kader, stressed the importance for companies to initiate and design an e-accounting system that is compatible with the nature of each company’s activity and with the e-invoice system.

Starting from July 2021, companies will find themselves unable to deal with ministries, bureaus and all state agencies unless they have joined the e-invoice system, Abdul Kader stressed, urging them to join the system as soon as possible.



IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
TT

IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could have significant economic ramifications for the region and the global economy, but commodity prices remain below the highs of the past year.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a regular news briefing that the Fund is closely monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon with "grave concern" and offered condolences for the loss of life.

"The potential for further escalation of the conflict heightens risks and uncertainty and could have significant economic ramifications for the region and beyond," Kozack said.

According to Reuters, she said it was too early to predict specific impacts on the global economy, but noted that economies in the region have already suffered greatly, especially in Gaza, where the civilian population "faces dire socioeconomic conditions, a humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid deliveries.

The IMF estimates that Gaza's GDP declined 86% in the first half of 2024, Kozack said, while the West Bank's first-half GDP likely declined 25%, with prospects of a further deterioration.

Israel's GDP contracted by about 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023 after the conflict began, and the country has seen only a partial recovery in the first half of 2024, she added.
The IMF will update its economic projections for all countries and the global economy later in October when the global lender and World Bank hold their fall meetings in Washington.
"In Lebanon, the recent intensification of the conflict is exacerbating the country's already fragile macroeconomic and social situation," Kozack said, referring to Israel's airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"The conflict has inflicted a heavy human toll on the country, and it has damaged physical infrastructure."
The main channels for the conflict to impact the global economy have been through higher commodity prices, including oil and grains, as well as increased shipping costs, as vessels avoid potential missile attacks by Yemen's Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea, Kozack said. But commodity prices are currently lower than their peaks in the past year.
"I just emphasize once again that we're closely monitoring the situation, and this is a situation of great concern and very high uncertainty," she added.
Lebanon in 2022 reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a potential loan program, but there has been insufficient progress on required reforms, Kozack said.
"We are prepared to engage with Lebanon on a possible financing program when the situation is appropriate to do so, but it would necessitate that the actions can be taken and decisive policy measures can be taken," Kozack added. "We are currently supporting Lebanon through capacity development assistance and other areas where possible."