Chairperson Egyptian Federation of Construction and Building Contractors Hassan Abdel Aziz blamed the increasing prices of the building materials used in the projects for the exit of two thousand contracting companies from the market during 2016. He criticized the Egyptian authorities for the delay in the issuance of the law of spreads, saying that it would lead the exit of more companies during the coming period.
He added that the contracting sector faces a serious challenge due to the increasing prices and the recent decision to increase taxes. He added that the economic decision to liberate the exchange rate of the Egyptian currency performed a major role in the current economic problem. He stressed that the current crisis is similar to the crisis witnessed in 2003 when the government decided to take the decision to liberate the rate of exchange.
He stressed that the governmental decision led a large number of contracting companies to exit from the Egyptian market. He pointed out that the state should pay attention to local contracting companies, especially that the sector succeeded in acquiring 99% of the national, large and small projects and is able to expand in the Arab and African countries, which relies on 80% of foreign contracting companies in implementing projects.
He pointed out that contracting companies have suffered recently from some of the losses resulting from the differences in prices of raw materials after the liberalization of the exchange rate of the pound against foreign currencies, as a result of the timing of opening the technical envelope provided by the company; the timing of commencement of work in the project; That is the difference in the price of the dollar.
He explained that Article 55 of the Tenders and Auctions Law prevents the contractor from obtaining price differences within six months from the commencement of the project. He pointed out that they are in conflict with some articles of the law. He pointed to holding meetings with government agencies to reformulate them to comply with the law.