Source : Reuters / 6 May 2013

Egypt hopes to lower its budget deficit to 5.5 percent in the 2016-1017 fiscal year from 10.7 percent in 2012/13, the finance minister told Egypt's Al-Ahram daily newspaper on Saturday.

Egypt's budget deficit will reach 197.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($28.7 billion) or 9.5 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year starting July 1 after a revised 184.9 billion pounds or 10.7 percent in 2012/13, according to a draft budget previously seen by Reuters.

Source : Al Arabiya / 26 Apr 2013

A turtle considered to be the second oldest animal in the world died this week in Egypt’s Giza Zoo at the age of 280, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

King Farouk, who became the ruler of Egypt in 1936, dedicated the ancient turtle to the zoo, reported the privately owned daily Youm 7.

Source : Al Arabiya with Agencies / 21 Mar 2013

Egypt ministers on Tuesday announced controversial plans to introduce a smart-card system that limits the amout of subsidized bread citizens can buy.

The government would start rationing “after two months,” Supply Minister Bassem Ouda told Reuters earlier this week.

Source : OnIslam & News Agencies / 26 Feb 2013

Providing a helping hand to disabled children and their families, an international Muslim relief group is championing a new center in Egypt to help people with disabilities to adapt to life.

"This is a pioneering project that offered free services for children and youth with special needs and their families," Mohamed Al Alfy, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Islamic Relief Egypt, said, AME Info website reported Monday, February 25.

By Islam Mitsraym / 23 Feb 2013

Have you ever heard of Egypt’s largest natural woodland? It’s Elba Protectorate. This is the largest natural protected area in Egypt, out of her officially declared 29 protectorates so far; it encompasses an area of 35,600 km2 (3,560,000 hectares) at the farthest south east of Egypt.

Elba Protectorate is considered by taxonomists, botanists and ecologists to be the northernmost Afrotropical ecozone on Planet Earth, being located between the latitudes 23.3°N and 22°N in the north hemisphere.

By Reuters / 14 Feb 2013

Fathy Ali is beyond anger as he queues for hours in a line of 64 trucks and buses to fill his tank with scarce subsidized diesel fuel, known in Egypt as “Solar.”

“This has become part of my life. I come and wait for hours or days, depending on my luck,” the chain-smoking bus driver said at a besieged gas station on Cairo’s Suez High Road, wrapped in a scarf and thick coat for the long ordeal. “At the start it used to upset me a lot but now I’ve kind of given up.”

By Carina Kamel / 26 Jan 2013

Facing the threat of economic crisis back home, a delegation of Egyptian officials and businessmen visited London this month to meet with foreign investors and try to restore confidence in the economy.

Foreign investment to Egypt dropped significantly after the revolution, and now, two years after the 2011 uprising, many investors have yet to return.

By Carina Kamel / 10 Jan 2013

Egypt will sign a long-awaited financing deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before upcoming parliamentary elections, the planning minister has told Al Arabiya, hinting that elements of the government’s economic program such as a controversial sales tax rise could be subject to change in a revised agreement.

Minister Ashraf El Araby also dismissed reports that newly announced aid from Qatar could delay the IMF loan.

By Reuters / 7 Jan 2013

Egypt's president added fellow Islamists to a reshuffled government on Sunday and the new finance minister pledged to finish talks on an IMF loan to stave off a currency crisis that risks provoking more popular unrest.

A senior IMF official is due in Cairo on Monday to meet Egyptian leaders over the $4.8 billion loan deal, which was postponed last month to give Egypt more time to tackle political tensions before introducing unpopular austerity measures.

Source : Trade Arabia / 27 Dec 2012

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are among the world’s top 40 most competitive manufacturing nations, according to a new study which highlights the challenges faced by established countries.

The UAE ranking at 30, Saudi Arabia 34, and Egypt 36 in the 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index report from Deloitte’s Manufacturing Industry group and the US Council on Competitiveness.