Egypt revises up growth forecast for 2017-18


Reuters | Published: January 14, 2018 14:25:50 | Updated: January 15, 2018 15:12:07


People shop at Al Ataba, a popular market in downtown Cairo, Egypt December 12, 2017. Reuters

Egypt has revised its GDP forecast for the 2017-18 fiscal year beginning in July up to 5.3-5.5 per cent, from 4.8 per cent previously, Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed said on Saturday.

Saeed said the economy is expected to have grown 5.2-5.3 per cent during the second quarter of the current fiscal year, which ended in December. The economy is expected to grow by 6 per cent in the next fiscal year, she added.

Egypt’s economy has struggled since a 2011 uprising drove tourists and foreign investors away, two main sources of hard currency, but the government hopes that IMF-backed reforms it has embarked on over the past year will put it back on track.

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