Egypt’s economic growth rises 5.6% in Q3-FY19: minister

Egypt’s economic growth rose 5.6 percent during the third quarter of financial year 2018/2019 from 5.4 percent last year, Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed said on Wednesday.

The government targets a further rise in the economic growth rate to reach 5.8% during the fourth quarter of the current year, Saeed added in a statement on Wednesday.

Investments and net exports represented 85 percent of the growth in the first half of the current financial year, compared with 71 percent in the same period of the past year, Saeed noted.

Significant developments have been observed in several economic indicators, a fact that ensures that the economic reforms in the country are moving on the right track, Saeed said.

Saeed pointed out that public investments hit about EGP 310 billion during the first nine months of financial year 2018/2019, with a growth of 19 percent, noting that governmental investments rose by 26 percent, registering 90 billion pounds.

The employment rate decreased to 8.9 percent during the second quarter of financial year 2018/2019, versus 11.3 percent in the same period of the past year, she said.

The average annual inflation rate declined to 14 percent during the first nine months of financial year 2018/2019 against 25.6 percent in the same period of financial year 2017/2018, she added.

In addition, foreign exchange flows from major sources rose to about 38.8 billion pounds during the first half of financial year 2018/2019, compared with about 36.2 billion pounds in the same period of the past year, with an increase of 7.1 percent, she further said.

Source: MENA