Public, private investments contribute to Egypt’s growth by 45%

CAIRO – 18 July 2019: Public and private investments in Egypt contributed to the structure of growth during 2018/2019 by 45 percent, followed by exports with 34 percent, Minister of Finance Mohamed Ma’it said Thursday.

Ma’it noted that the structure of growth improved and became more sustainable and diversified, referring to recording the highest growth rate during 2018/2019.

The government targets a growth rate exceeding 6 percent in the new budget, Ma’it added.

According to Ma’it, Egypt started to reap the benefits of the economic reform program announced by the government in 2016.“Annual inflation fell to its lowest rate in more than 3 years to reach 9.4 percent in July 2019, compared to 30 percent in July 2017.”

Egypt succeeded during fiscal year 2018/2019 in enhancing macro-economic stability against risks, improving fiscal conditions, achieving comprehensive growth rates and moving towards sustainable debt reduction, he said.

The minister added that Egypt has restored investor confidence, which contributed to the provision of more job opportunities, especially in light of the investment incentives, and the promising opportunities in the major national projects under way.

Ma’it clarified that the state’s economic reforms assisted in regaining the confidence of global financial institutions and international rating agencies, which stress that the country is on the right track as the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound against foreign currencies improved, the country's foreign reserves increased and an initial surplus of 2 percent was attained.

This is in addition to reducing the total deficit to 8.2 percent of GDP and lowering the unemployment rate to 8.9 percent in December 2018.