The Egyptian government is seeking economic growth rates of 5.4 percent during fiscal year (FY) 2019/2020, according to the Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait said on Monday.
Egypt is one of the few countries that was able to achieve growth despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, registering the third-highest growth rate worldwide, the minister added during Hapi Third Annual Conference.
He also noted that the state economic reform program supported Egypt’s ability to deal flexibly during the pandemic, while pumping more investments in a number of sectors, including health, industry, and agriculture.
He also noted that the government is expected to achieve a growth rate of 2.8 percent during the current year, after achieving a growth rate of 3.6 percent a year earlier.
However, Egypt’s real GDP growth is forecast to decline to 2.3 percent in the current FY2020/2021 — which ends in June — down from 3.6 percent in FY2019/20, according to the World Bank’s (WB) updated report on Egypt’s economic outlook, issued on the occasion of the WB and the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings.
The WB attributed the projected decline to the ongoing effect of the pandemic, the renewed surge in COVID-19 cases, and the slow vaccine roll-out domestically and abroad.
