IMF expects Egypt’s GDP to reach 5.2% in 2017/2018

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Wed, 18 Apr 2018 - 03:45 GMT

BY

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 - 03:45 GMT

IMF building- Reuters

IMF building- Reuters

CAIRO – 18 April 2018: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Egypt to record a gross domestic product (GDP) of 5.2 percent in the current fiscal year and to reach 5.5 percent next year, with an increase of 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The IMF further anticipates the GDP to record 6 percent in 2023.

In its latest report, “The World Economic Outlook”, the IMF said that raising the expectations for the growth rate reflects a greater movement of activity in domestic demand and the positive effects of structural economic reform.

The report also expected the inflation rate to gradually decrease to 20.1 percent in 2018, anticipating the rate to reach 13 percent in 2019.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that annual consumer price inflation slipped to 13.1 percent in March 2018, compared to 32.5 percent in the same month of 2017.

Regarding the unemployment rate, it is expected to reduce to 11.1 percent in 2018 and 9.7 percent in 2019.

CAPMAS said that Egypt’s unemployment rate slipped to 11.8 percent in 2017, compared to 12.5 percent in 2016.

Egypt had embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, all with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.

The country also floated its currency in November 2016 before clinching a $12-billion loan from the IMF. The IMF’s executive board approved in November 2016 a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFT) loan to Egypt worth $12 billion to support its economic reform program.

In December 2017, Cairo received the third tranche of this loan, worth $2 billion, bringing total disbursements to $6.08 billion.

The fourth tranche, also worth $2 billion, will be received after concluding the program’s third review in June.

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