Egypt

METAC is helping the Egyptian authorities to rationalize its cash management system through the establishment of a “Treasury Single Account” (TSA) at the central bank. METAC assisted the authorities with developing a strategy for the reform, and USAID is providing assistance in implementing it. Besides the TSA project, METAC assisted the Ministry of Finance in the development of a revised budget classification based on the IMF’s Government Financial Statistics Manual (GFSM) 2001. The IMF plans to have a resident advisor to support the development of a macrofiscal unit and improve fiscal reporting in Egypt. The World Bank conducted a public expenditure review, which focused on specific areas of the government sector.

METAC worked closely with IMF headquarters to support the integration of the tax departments and with the implementation of new income tax legislation. METAC participated in the design of the Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) concept (which was inaugurated in September 2005), the first phase of the tax administration reform, working closely with the consultants commissioned to develop the concept. Assistance was also provided on the introduction of self-assessment principles for income tax. METAC plans to provide further assistance on the integration of the tax departments, review LTO operations, support the establishment of the pilot MTO, and audit (self-assessment) in coordination with (USAID funded) consultants supporting the implementation of the IMF headquarters designed reform strategy.

METAC is assisting the Ministry of Investment in implementing a survey of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises. METAC is also offering technical assistance to the Central Bank of Egypt in balance of payments statistics, and to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in consumer price and producer price statistics.