Egypt is only emerging country to achieve positive growth, according to IMF: Maait

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Wed, 14 Oct 2020 - 12:02 GMT

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Wed, 14 Oct 2020 - 12:02 GMT

FILE PHOTO: Egypt's Finance Minister Mohamed Maait gestures during a news conference in Cairo, Egypt July 17, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

FILE PHOTO: Egypt's Finance Minister Mohamed Maait gestures during a news conference in Cairo, Egypt July 17, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

CAIRO – 14 October 2020: The Egyptian economy still enjoys the confidence of international institutions, as a result of its flexibility in dealing with internal and external challenges, absorb shocks, and mitigate their severity as done with the coronavirus, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said Wednesday.

 

Maait clarified that this came as a result of the fruitful economic reforms that the government undertook with strong political will, and the support of the Egyptian people.

 

He referred in a statement to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) report on " World Economic Outlook", including updates to its estimates, indicators and economic forecasts. 

 

“The report reflects IMF’s confidence in the performance of the Egyptian economy, in a new testimony confirming the insightful vision of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who adopted an ambitious national program for economic reform during the past years in a successful Egyptian experiment that was appreciated by the world,” he noted.

 

The minister quoted the Director of the International Monetary Fund’s previous statements, saying: "Egypt is a shining star in the world in the field of economic reform."

 

According to the minister, IMF raised its estimates of the rate of growth of the Egyptian economy in the fiscal year 2019/2020 to 3.5 percent instead of 2 percent in its report issued last May, which comes in line with the government estimates.

 

Maait pointed out that Egypt is the only country that has achieved a positive growth rate compared to an average negative growth rate of 3.3 percent for the group of emerging and developing countries, a negative growth rate of 4.1 percent for the countries of the Middle East and Central Asia, a negative growth rate of 4.6 percent for emerging European countries, and a negative growth rate of 8.1 percent for South America and the Caribbean, and a negative growth rate of 3 percent for the African countries.

 

The Minister of Finance added that the IMF had raised its estimate of the growth rate of the Egyptian economy in the current fiscal year to 2.8 percent instead of 2 percent in its report issued last May, which reflects the efforts made by the government to improve the growth structure to become more diversified. “It indicates the importance of development projects in advancing the national economy, maximizing productive capacities, expanding the export base and providing job opportunities.”

 

The minister pointed out that Egypt is the only country in the Middle East and Africa that has preserved the confidence of all three global rating institutions: "Standard & Poor's", "Moody's" and "Fitch" during one of the most difficult periods in the global economy in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

For his part, Deputy Minister for Financial Policy and Institutional Development, Ahmed Kojak, said that this report confirms the confidence of the IMF experts in the performance of the national economy, while they raised their estimates of the growth rate of the Egyptian economy during the past two years and the current one, adding that the growth rate was negative in the economies of emerging and developing countries.

 

He affirmed that the government will continue implementing an integrated package of structural reforms to strengthen the macroeconomic structure, in a way that contributes to achieving economic targets by registering a primary surplus and raising economic growth rates, in a manner that helps preserve economic gains.

 

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.

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