Growth rate in Egypt increases to 5.3% during Q2: Minister

The growth rate of the second quarter (Q2) of fiscal year 2017/2018 increased to 5.3 percent, compared to 5.2 percent, in the first quarter of the same year, Minister of planning Hala al-Said said Wednesday.

Said clarified that in Q2, the construction sector achieved a growth rate of 10.7 percent, the manufacturing sector grew 10 percent and the extractions sector witnessed a growth of 14 percent.

The minister added that the inflation declined in the second quarter to 17 percent.

Said pointed out that the Egyptian exports increased by more than 10 percent during the first half of this fiscal year 2017/2018.

The minister also noted that the number of ships that crossed the Suez Canal increased by 6.4 percent during Q2 of 2017/2018.

Egypt’s annual inflation declined to 17 percent in January 2018, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated on Thursday.