IMF raises expectation for Egyptian economy growth to 3.5% in 2020

CAIRO – 13 October 2020: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its forecasts for the growth indicators of the Egyptian economy during the year 2020.

The IMF expected in the October issue of the World Economic Outlook, an increase in the growth rate of the Egyptian economy to 3.5 percent, so that Egypt would maintain its position among countries in terms of growth rates, in light of a wave of contractions for the largest economies around the world, with the continuing repercussions of the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

This comes as a clear indication of the success of the structural and economic reform measures and the success of the government's plan in facing the challenges posed by the "Covid-19" pandemic.

At the same time, it expected that the Egyptian economy would achieve growth rates of 5.6 percent over the medium term by 2025.

It lowered its unemployment rate forecast to 8.3 percent, down from 10.3 percent in an earlier forecast.

The IMF also expected the current account deficit to decline to 3.2 percent of GDP in 2020 from 4.3 percent in previous forecasts, and also expected the current account deficit to continue to decline to 2.5 percent in 2021, and then, by 2025, the current account balance will stabilize at 0 percent.

In June, the IMF announced that the Egyptian economy was included in a list of the 30 largest economies, representing 83 percent of the global gross product.

In the last June issue of the "World Economic Outlook" report, the Fund expected that only Egypt and China would succeed in achieving positive growth during 2020, despite economic and health challenges imposed by the "Covid-19" pandemic, which pushed most countries of the world into a sharp contraction.