Year Three Quarter Two Report: Macro-Economic Stabilization and Reform Project

The project is designed to support the Government of Egypt's (GOE) reform efforts included in the GOE's agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The reforms aim to address macroeconomic imbalances that negatively impact the ability of enterprises to grow and become more competitive. The project's primary objectives are to improve public investment planning, implementation, and monitoring, and to upgrade the effectiveness of public financial management. In Year Three, Quarter Two, MESR continued to support the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MPED) to strengthen its process for effective public investment planning, implementation, and monitoring. The project also continued to support the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to enhance the effectiveness of public financial management. In Quarter Two, MESR further developed and refined a policy tracker to compile all COVID-19 related policies taken by the government in one place, improving government transparency and citizen awareness. MESR also produced digests of international experiences, supporting the MPED to manage the economic repercussions of COVID-19. The project refined, launched, and promoted the dynamic version of the MPED's website, making Egypt's macroeconomic data and policies more accessible, transparent, and easy to understand. Additionally, MESR revamped the MPED National Accounts Unit, creating Egypt's first user-friendly presentation of National Accounts data. The project initiated development of the Egyptian Governorate Competitiveness Index (EGCI), a national initiative that supports Egypt Vision 2030 implementation by identifying governorate competitive advantages, capacity, and gaps. MESR published and facilitated discussion of the initial results of the economic census 2017/2018, continuing its support of evidence-based decision-making and facilitating discussion on key issues and policy development informed by census data. MESR assessed and improved the Government Program Performance Monitoring System, a crucial component for moving towards program-based budgeting (PBB). The project finalized the Integrated System for Investment Plan Preparation and Monitoring's (ISIPPM) monitoring and evaluation component, allowing the MPED to monitor capital investment projects to determine if projects meet goals and objectives in line with Egypt Vision 2030. MESR also initiated development of a new ISIPPM component for Members of Parliament (MP) that will enable them to better perform their oversight role on public investment projects. The project completed the first PBB Manual ever produced in Egypt, guiding government budget entities on how to implement PBB. MESR organized a roundtable with key senior MOF and Egyptian MPs driving PBB reforms to discuss how to build on and sustain PBB reforms undertaken with technical support from MESR. The project designed a 'should be' budget process flowchart to ensure integration of budget-related processes, including GFMIS, to guide the design of the MOF PBB Unit organizational structure. MESR compiled training materials and identified two advisors to support the MOF's Alexandria Participatory Budget Initiative, which aims to increase citizen knowledge and participation in the budget process. The project supported the MOF and the MPED to launch the first conference to introduce participatory budgeting to key stakeholders in Alexandria, raising citizen awareness on how to effectively participate in the budget process.