Egypt is targeting a budget deficit of 8.4 percent of GDP for the 2018-19 fiscal year that ends in June, compared with 9.8 percent in the previous year, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told a news conference on Tuesday. "Our economy has grown faster than we ve expected, our GDP has grown faster than the falling of our debt," Maait said.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi concluded his visit to China on Tuesday and flew to Uzbekistan, the first official visit by an Egyptian President to the Central Asian country. According to a statement by Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady, El-Sisi will visit the capital of Tashkent where he will meet his counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Monday with his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir on the sidelines of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation FOCAC 2018, which is set to be held in Beijing later in the day. "The meeting discussed pushing forward cooperation between both countries as well as the recent political and security developments in South Sudan," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in a press statement from Beijing.

The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) on Monday warned Uber and Careem, the two largest ride hailing companies in Egypt, against proceeding on a reported merger deal without receiving prior permission from the authority, an official statement read. The ECA said it has reached out to the San Francisco and UAE, respectively, based companies over July media reports that Uber is seeking to acquire Careem in an attempt to overcome a costly competition.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi witnessed on Sunday in Beijing the signing of a number of contracts with Chinese companies to implement development projects in Egypt with an investment worth of $18.3 billion. "The contracts signed include the construction of the world s biggest power plants in Al-Hamrawein region on Egypt s Red Sea coast, which will be powered by clean coal technology, and with a production capacity of 6000 Megawatts," Egypt s Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady said.

International cooperation with strategic partners is a top priority, to achieve aspired common goals," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the seventh preparatory ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing Sunday. Shoukry said the FOCAC 2018 meeting is being held at a critical time as the world is witnessing growing political challenges negatively affecting international cooperation, pointing out that poverty and poor rates of development continue to be the most salient challenges facing developing nations, especially in the African continent.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi flew to Bahrain on Thursday on the first leg of a three-nation tour that includes China and Uzbekistan, El-Sisi s office said in a statement. El-Sisi is due to hold talks with Bahrain s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and top Bahraini government officials about mutual ties and regional issues of mutual interest, presdiential spokesman Bassam Rady said.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) topped the priorities of both Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri s visit to Addis Ababa and his Sudanese counterpart s visit to Cairo this week. On Monday, Shoukri and Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel headed to Addis Ababa carrying a verbal message from President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced on Wednesday though the state-owned MENA news agency that, for the first time since 2010, the unemployment rate in the country has declined. According to PM Madbouly, the unemployment rate in 2018 is less than 10 percent for the first time since 2010.

Egypt s foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said on Wednesday that his country and Ethiopia must press ahead with diplomatic efforts and maintain regular communication to protect their mutual interests, seemingly referring to Addis Ababa s disputed dam project on the Nile river. The statement came a day after Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel met with Ethiopia s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa to follow up on talks over the Grand Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia s $4 billion hydroelectric mega project.

Egypt s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting on Tuesday with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi on the future of oil and gas discoveries in Egypt, state agency MENA reported. During the meeting, Madbouly expressed his appreciation for the existing cooperation with Eni, citing the Zohr offshore field, the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

Egypt s education ministry has started the second phase of its project to build 100 Japanese-style state schools, the website of the country s state television channel reported on Tuesday. Education Minister Tarek Shawky said in June that 45 of a total of 100 of the schools will open their doors to students in September, after registration opened in July.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed his keenness to develop brotherly relations between Egypt and Vietnam following a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang in Cairo. Speaking at a press conference, El-Sisi said Quang s visit was of special importance as it was the first visit by a Vietnamese president to Egypt since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries 55 years ago.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said on Sunday that it will not allow third parties to access bank account data belonging to companies or individuals, referring to a proposal by the country s Tax Authority to amend the law to allow access to account data by the finance ministry. In an official statement, CBE governor Tarek Amer said that the bank will not accept amendments to the income tax act that would allow the finance ministry access to company accounts.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said on Sunday that it will not allow third parties to access bank account data belonging to companies or individuals, referring to a proposal by the country s Tax Authority to amend the law to allow access to account data by the finance ministry. In an official statement, CBE governor Tarek Amer said that the bank will not accept amendments to the income tax act that would allow the finance ministry access to company accounts. The statements by Amer came a few hours after the head of the country s Tax Authority Emad Samy told Enterprise on Sunday that the finance ministry is seeking access to corporate bank data under proposed amendments to the income tax act to help combat tax evasion.

Former vice president of the Egyptian Petroleum Authority Medhat Youssef told Ahram Online that Egypt has nothing to fear over the ongoing renegotiations of the Cyprus natural gas deal, noting that it is a normal procedure that should be undertaken if there is a change in the market, including oil prices. Youssef added that the changes in the agreement that may happen will only guarantee benefits for every side involved including Egypt, Cyprus, and foreign investors.

Egypt s Minister of Planning Hala El-Saeed said on Thursday that a specialised committee of legal and economic experts has been formed to create the statutes of the newly introduced EGP 200 billion sovereign wealth fund known as the Egypt Fund. On Monday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified Law 177 of 2018 for the establishment of the Egypt Fund, which involves funding for utilising natural sources and attracting investments.

Egypt s Defence Minister Mohamed Zaki has concluded a two-day visit to Russia following high-level military meetings, according to a statement by Armed Forces spokesperson Tamer El-Refai. General Zaki and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu held a meeting to discuss several issues of mutual interest as well as the development of military relations and technical cooperation and exchanging expertise between the armed forces of both countries.

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla held on Wednesday talks with president of the US Apex International Energy company Thomas Maher over the West Badr El-Din and South East Meleiha concessions in Egypt s Western Desert. APEX won a seismic exploration tender at the West Badr El-Din (4,180 sq km) and South East Meleiha (2,535 sq km) concessions as part of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) 2016 bidding round. The company will drill nine exploratory wells at investments of $51.1 million.

Investors are looking forward to the announcement of the winning company for the tender to construct a 250 MW wind-power plant in the Gulf of Suez. The company that will execute the project will be selected from a short list of three including the German energy giant Siemens, the Danish Vestas Wind Systems Company, and Senvion, a wind-turbine manufacturer founded in Germany in 2001.

Egypt released 2,376 prisoners, including 627 debt defaulters, by a presidential pardon decree on Tuesday, the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, according to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior. The decree comes weeks after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi launched the initiative "Prisons Without Debt Defaulters", which aims to help some of the many people - disproportianetly women - who have been imprisoned because they failed to repay loans borrowed for family expenses.