Egypt s economy has achieved its highest growth rate within a decade to reach 5.5 percent due to the economic reform programme adopted by the government, Planning Minister Hala El-Saeed said on Saturday. Minister El-Saeed made the remarks while reviewing Egypt s economic reform programme with Adviser to Pakistan s Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Ishrat Hussain on the fringe of the 44th annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) board of governors in Morocco, taking place on April 5-6 in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi started on Sunday a tour to Guinea, Ivory Coast, Senegal and the United States, presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said in a statement. Rady said that the president s tour to West Africa comes as part of Egypt s keenness to intensify communication and coordination with its African brothers, as well as to strengthen its relations with the countries of the continent in various fields, including economic, trade and investment relations, especially during Egypt s current chairmanship of the African Union (AU).

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi visited on Sunday Gamal Abdel-Nasser University in Conakry, Guinea accompanied by his Guinean counterpart Alpha Condé. The largest and first higher education institution in Guinea, the university was named after late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser in 1970.

A final parliamentary vote on changing the 2014 constitution is expected on 14 April. Following a vote on the 2017/2018 budget this week Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal told MPs that “our next sitting will be held on 14 April and I think all of you will be keen to attend the historic meeting”. “It will be a very important plenary session and attendance is essential.” A two-thirds majority of MPs in favour of the amendments is needed for them to pass. “Parliament took a provisional vote on 14 February and, in line with the constitution and parliamentary rules, a final vote on the report of the draft of the constitutional amendments must be held within two months,” Abdel-Moneim Al-Oleimi, independent MP and a member of parliament s Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly. A two-week consultative process on the amendments concluded on 28 March.

President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi s scheduled three-day visit to the US capital next week will have Middle East peace as its underlining theme. According to a White House statement issued during the last week of March, US President Donald Trump will meet Al-Sisi in the Oval Office on 9 April for talks that will cover “developments and shared priorities in the region, including enhancing regional economic integration and addressing ongoing conflicts, and Egypt s longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability”.

A 13-member sub-committee will finish a report on proposed amendments to Egypt s constitution on Wednesday, according to Bahaaeddin Abu Shoqa, leader of the Wafd Party and chairman of parliament s legislative and constitutional affairs committee. In a meeting held on Sunday, Abu Shoqa indicated that a sub-committee headed by MP Ahmed Helmi El-Sherif, deputy chairman of the legislative affairs committee, will be entrusted with collecting all the remarks and comments which were sent to parliament in a written form or expressed in during the national dialogue held between 20 and 28 March.

Egypt s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday directed the government to cut public expenditure and go ahead with monetary reforms to improve the country s financial capacity and provide necessary resources for enhancing basic services offered to citizens in all fields. El-Sisi s directives came during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, the Central Bank Governor and the ministers of planning, trade and public business sector, as well as other officials.

Egypt s oil trade balance achieved for the first time in four years a surplus of $150.8 million during the first half of fiscal year 2018/19, compared to a deficit of $2.2 billion in the same period the previous fiscal year, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced. In a report released on Monday, the CBE said the volume of goods exports increased by 18.4 percent to reach $14.3 billion in the first half of FY 2018/19, against $12.1 billion the previous year.

Companies affiliated with the business sector in Egypt made net profits of EGP 11.3 billion in the fiscal year 2017/18, with total earnings of EGP 18.5 billion reported by profitable companies and losses estimated at EGP 7.2 billion by the unprofitable ones, said Public Business Sector Minister Hisham Tawfik on Monday. Delivering the inaugural speech at the Influential Growth annual conference, organised by the economic newspaper Hapi Journal, Minister Tawfik said that his ministry seeks to achieve sustainable development for the public business sector with a view to making a leap in the profits of its affiliate companies.

Egypt will keep its customs exchange rate steady at EGP 16 to the dollar for strategic and essential goods for April, the finance ministry said on Monday. The ministry reduced the exchange rate for unnecessary or luxury goods to EGP 17.4 to the dollar. Egypt began setting a monthly fixed customs exchange rate in January 2017, following the central bank s decision to float the Egyptian pound in November 2016. The dollar was set at EGP 16 in August 2018. The finance ministry has since reviewed the rate every month.

Egypt s Red Sea governorate has decided to ban single-use or disposable plastics, starting from June. According to the Association for the Protection of the Environment, the decision, made by the governor, aims to protect wildlife, marine life and endangered species, all of which have been severely affected by plastic due to ingestion, poisoning or suffocation.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Saturday that the minimum monthly wage of state employees would increase from EGP 1,200 to 2,000, to take effect from 30 June. The last a minimum wage increase for public sector was introduced in January 2014 from EGP 700 to 1,200. El-Sisi also announced a number of reform measures to ease the effects of austerity on Egyptians. The decisions came during a speech at a celebration organised by the National Council for Women to celebrate Egyptian women and ideal mothers at Al-Manara International Conference Centre in New Cairo. Increases to bonuses, pensions

Egypt’s Minister of Planning Hala al-Saeed on Sunday held a workshop to discuss the transferring of governmental bodies and ministries to the New Administrative Capital, as well as processing job evaluation of employees. Saeed said that transferring to the New Administrative Capital is great opportunity to qualify employees and train cadres in the state administrative apparatuses. She added that the government would insert new administrative capital’s culture and thought in the government apparatuses.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan have called for greater cooperation to combat threats to Arab countries, including interference in their internal affairs, during talks in Egypt Wednesday. El-Sisi and Al-Nahyan, who is also deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, held a bilateral meeting on development, economic and political cooperation in Ras El-Teen presidential palace in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, an Egyptian presidency spokesman said in a statement. This was followed by broader talks between delegations of the two countries.

Egypt s 2019-2020 budget will assume an exchange rate of 18.00 Egyptian pounds per U.S. dollar and an oil price of 68 dollars a barrel, two government sources told Reuters. The government has allocated 52.8 billion Egyptian pounds to fuel subsidies, down from 89 billion in previous budget, the sources added.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought greater cooperation between their countries to ensure stability in the region during talks in Washington Tuesday. The two officials discussed ways to boost mutual cooperation and strategic partnership, as well as bolstering efforts to "confront regional and international threats and to achieve stability in the Middle East," Egypt s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Egypt s Cairo Criminal Court has ordered on Wednesday the release of Researcher and Journalist Hisham Gafaar, with precautionary measures, including parole and travel ban, pending a case in which he is tried for joining a "banned organization". Gafaar was arrested in 2015 on charges of "joining an organization founded against the terms of law and receiving bribe".

The House of Representatives on Sunday issued a statement clarifying the procedures to be followed for the amendment of the constitution. According to the statement, 155 MPs submitted to request the amendment of certain articles in accordance with Article 226 of the constitution. The statement said that the parliament followed Article 226 of the Constitution and a set of parliamentary procedures stipulated in the bylaws of the House of Representatives.

A meeting of foreign ministers and intelligence chiefs from Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq convened in Cairo on Saturday, a statement by Egypt s foreign ministry read. The Saturday meetings come in preparation for the tripartite summit which is expected to be held between President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and King Abdullah of Jordan, spokesperson to the Egyptian FM Ahmed Hafez explained.

Egypt s parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal told MPs on Monday that he is keen to listen to their comments and remarks on proposed amendments to Egypt s 2014 constitution. "We want a dialogue without barriers, but at the same time this dialogue should be within the limit of the amendments submitted by the majority MPs on 3 February," said Abdel-Aal.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed on Monday with Chinese Minister of Defence Wei Fenghe military and security issues of common concern, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency spokesperson. During the meeting, El-Sisi highlighted Egypt s support for China s "Belt and Road" initiative to promote trade and economic cooperation between Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. El-Sisi stressed that "this new initiative will support Egypt s development efforts which aim to attract investment to major national projects in the Suez Canal zone and the establishment of industrial and logistical zones and ports on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean." The meeting also touched on bilateral cooperation on the security and military levels, the fight against terrorism and joint exercises.