Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s economy is forecast to grow by 4% in fiscal year 2017/2018, a new poll by Reuters showed.
The poll is in line with government predictions, Reuters said Tuesday, noting that the most populated Arab country will see a pickup in growth by 4.3% in FY 2018/2019.
“The poll of 15 economists also forecast 3.5% growth in the fiscal year just ended once the numbers are reported, lower than the government’s 3.8-4.0% view. But that is a slight upgrade from 3.3% in the previous poll in April,” the news agency said.
Egypt’s fiscal year begins in July and concludes in June the following year.
Earlier this week, Hala Al-Saeed, minister of planning, said that it was unlikely that gross domestic product (GDP) growth for FY 2016/2017 to fall below 4%.
Since 2011, Egypt’s economy has struggled after several political changes drove away tourists and investments. However, foreign reserves have recently gone back to pre-2011 levels, after the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) received several loans from various sources including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Before 2011, Egypt’s annual economic growth was around 7%.
As part of its deal with the IMF, Egypt has carried out several measures to reduce the budget deficit including reducing fuel and electricity subsidies several times over the past two years.
“Egypt is hoping a $12 billion three-year International Monetary Fund program it began last year, which includes subsidy cuts and tax hikes, will put the economy back on track,” Reuters said in its report.
