WB: Egypt sees strong economic growth rates

WASHINGTON - 23 April 2020: The World Bank (WB) has announced that Egypt sees strong economic growth rates, despite the sharp decline in growth rates of major world countries over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

In a report published on Thursday, the WB said the successful economic reform program introduced in 2016 helped the country in supporting macroeconomic stability and enhancing rate of growth, generating a strong surplus in the primary budget, and reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio, as well as replenishing the foreign currency reserves.

The report showed that Egypt achieved a growth rate of 5.6 percent in the 2018/19 fiscal year, upping from 5.3 percent in the fiscal year 2017/18.

The WB ascribed the rise in growth rate to the recovery of some sectors, such as wholesale and retail trade, agriculture and manufacturing, in addition to the improvement in investment rates and net exports.

The WB pointed to the cash facility available in private credit, especially after the Central Bank of Egypt's decision to cut interest rates by 3 percent in March, as a result of the decline in the average inflation rate by 5.8 percent during the first half of the 2019/20 fiscal year.