State-owned enterprises play critical role in emerging markets amid COVID-19 crisis: EBRD

State-owned enterprises play critical role in emerging markets amid COVID-19 crisis: EBRD

State-owned enterprises in emerging markets, especially in the southern and eastern Mediterranean, are playing a major role in primary sectors in these economies, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

These primary sectors include industries such as phosphate mining, chemicals, manufacturing of consumer goods, finance, and real estate.

These findings were part of the 2020-2021 transition report released on Tuesday by the EBRD, which classified Egypt in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region.

The report discussed the reappraisal of the role of the state in the economy and how it has been affected amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and its associated impacts, especially in emerging economies.

According to the report, state-owned enterprises and the broader public sector, over the years, remain a critical source of the