Sisi increases military pensions

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received parliament’s backing to increase military pensions by 10 per cent.

Law No. 63 of 2016 will be backdated to July 2016, the government’s official journal said.

In the mean time, Egypt is in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to obtain a loan of $12 billion over three years. The loan would be used to help implement the government’s reform programme. The scheme requires $7 billion each year.

The increase in the value of the dollar, which has surpassed 13 Egyptian pounds, has forced factories in Egypt to close and business owners to call on the government to stop this crisis. Last week, chairman of the Bilbes Industrial Assembly, Abdullah Al-Ghazali, said a majority of factories in his province have had to shut down, with only 190 of the 400 factories operating.