On the political front, Egypt is progressing with confidence towards building its democratic institutions and political system. After the ratification of the new constitution in January 2014 through a public referendum with 98.1% approval rate and the election of a new President in June 2014 through direct elections. The Parliamentary election law; the final prerequisite for holding the elections, was ratified by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in December 2014. Accordingly, Parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place over two phases, in March and April 2015, completing the political transition that started on July 3, 2013.

This progress has increased confidence in Egypt’s economy as shown by the gradual pick up in real economic growth rates in recent quarters. The two stimulus packages introduced by GoE in FY 2013/14; with a total value of EGP 63.6 bn, was a primary driver for such economic recovery as the increase in wages (by implementing a higher minimum wage scheme) supported private consumption, while the leveraged capital spending supported higher capacity utilization rates in the industrial sector, higher investments in infrastructure and construction projects, and a pickup in real estate market activity.