Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Mostafa Madbouly met with Hassan Abdelaziz, head of the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors to resolve contractors’ issues, especially with regard to the increase of building material prices and the decrease of the Egyptian pound against the dollar, according to a statement by the ministry.

Several contractors and developers are suffering from the increase in prices and have called for several demands to be met before they are able to begin work on national projects, including extending the period for projects’ implementation, having the state cover the differences in prices since the bidding was initially made or providing direct support, and being provided adequate compensation for the current works to overcome the overpriced aspects in the national projects.

The government will form a committee to address the contractors’ demands. Madbouly said he hopes that contractors will not incur losses in the upcoming period due to the current economic circumstances, noting that several draft proposals have been prepared to  be reviewed by the Cabinet, including compensating affected contractors and amending laws concerning tenders and auctions to further resolve contractors’ issues.