Informal sector contributes 50-70% of Egypt’s GDP: NBE chief

The informal economy makes up between 50 percent and 70 percent of Egypt’s GDP, the head of one of the largest public banks said on Monday.

The financial inclusion is a necessity for Egypt’s economic development and ensuring its financial sustainability, Hesham Okasha, chairman of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) said in a conference in Cairo.

An African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates in April showed that informality in employment is still deepening, meaning that the proportion of Egyptians in poor-quality jobs without written contracts or social security has been rising, despite witnessing higher economic growth. The report said informal employment stood at between 48 percent and 70 percent.

Efforts to better regulate and structure the informal economy were recently intensified in Egypt after the central bank launched an initiative to support small and medium enterprises, encouraging more to work under the umbrella of the formal economy to benefit from financial services.