Egypt’s unemployment rate falls to 7.5% in Q2 – c.bank

Egypt’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.5 percent in the second quarter of 2019, preliminary data from the central bank showed on Thursday.

Unemployment was 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019, state statistics agency CAPMAS said last May.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged to reduce joblessness below 10 percent over the next few years, a target that requires higher levels of economic growth.

The rate has been falling steadily in recent months amid a programme of economic reforms.

Egypt signed a three-year $12 billion International Monetary Fund programme in late 2016 aimed at reviving the economy. It has since then floated the pound currency and imposed some harsh economic reforms, including subsidy cuts and tax hikes.