Egypt’s unemployment rate falls to 7% – finance minister

Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 7 percent from 13 percent in 2016, finance minister Mohamed Maait said on Monday.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged to lower unemployment rates during his tenure by attracting private sector and foreign investments to boost the economy.

In recent years, Egyptian government has spent billions of dollars on mega projects such as the electric power stations, new Suez Canal, and a new administrative capital, which contributed to provide employment to tens of thousands of Egyptians.

Egypt has embarked in late 2016 a set of IMF-backed economic reforms to revive the national economy including floating the local currency, cutting energy subsidies, and putting in place a value-added tax.