Promises vs. reality: What did Sisi do for Egypt's economy in 2014?

Daily News Egypt reviews the goals set and analyses how far along they are from realisation.

Prior to election, then-political candidate Al-Sisi cited “national security” concerns for not sharing his detailed vision. Al-Sisi stated that only the broad lines of his five-year plan will be mentioned without details to avoid “schemers” being attracted to his plan. The delay in releasing the platform raised several questions, and resulted in condemnation from the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).

The economic platform was released on 20 May, but the plan was removed from the official website, then republished soon after. As he previously announced, Al-Sisi’s economic plans did not specify how many projects would be included, with the majority of the goals set for the fiscal year (FY) 2017/2018.

Economic growth, budget deficit and debt

Al-Sisi targeted a 7% gross domestic product (GDP) by FY 2017/2018. He clarified in his platform that he sought to decrease the budget deficit to 8.5% by FY 2017/2018, while reducing the domestic public debt from 90% of GDP to 74.5% of GDP.