Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s government investments jumped by 60% to EGP 40 billion during the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal year 2020/2021.
About 71% of these investments (EGP 28.4 billion) were financed by the State Treasury, the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala El-Saeed, said in a statement on Wednesday.
These investments were mainly directed into housing, education, local development, transportation, health, and irrigation sectors, she added.
Over the July-September period, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate fell to 0.7% as compared to the prior-year period, due to the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic.
If the government had not implemented any measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, Egypt’s economy could have shrunk by 1.2% during this period, she noted.
Despite the current challenges, five sectors achieved economic growth in the three-month period ended 30 September, namely transportation and storage, agriculture, health, and education.
In addition, some sectors managed to post growth rates similar to the prior-year period such as the petroleum refining, wholesale and retail, and communications.
On the other hand, some sectors witnessed a steep decline, including tourism, manufacturing, gas, and Suez Canal.
