Egyptian economy grows 5 per cent

04 September 2009

Growth rate supasses government forecasts

Egypt’s economy grew by 4.7 per cent in 2008/09, according to an announcement by Economic Development Minister Othman Othman.

The government’s previous forecasts put the growth rate at 4.5 per cent.

Othman said on 25 August that the government had revised its projections for growth in 2009/10 to reflect the latest figures. It now expects gross domestic product (GDP) to increase by 5.3-5.5 per cent rather than 4 per cent during the coming year.

Othman added that the global slowdown had resulted in $11bn of economic losses for Egypt. This included $3.5bn in oil revenues, $719m in non-oil revenues, $435m in tourism, $1bn in remittances and $5.3bn in foreign direct investment.

He said direct investment declined from $13bn to $8bn, before the economic crisis.

The government implemented a £E15bn ($2.7bn) stimulus programme in 2008/09. It is now considering another £E10-£15bn stimulus package for the new fiscal year.

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