Egypt Economic Growth Records 5% in Q3 of FY 2019/20

The cabinet announced that Egypt recorded 5% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2019/20.

In a statement, the Cabinet added on Wednesday that the growth was expected to reach 5.8% in Q3 FY 2019/20, yet, it slowed down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.

On her part, the Minister of Planning Hala el-Said said on the sidelines of the virtual cabinet meeting  that the industrial sectors, wholesale and retail trade, real estate activities, construction and building, as well as agriculture sectors contributed to about 50% of GDP.

El-Said explained that the tourism sector contribution rate dropped to 2.7% compared to 3% in the corresponding period, as well as the industry, which decreased from 12.8% to 12.2%.

However, the communication sector rate increased from 2.5% to 2.7% while maintaining a positive and high growth rate of 15%. On the other hand, the oil refining sector witnessed growth of about 78%.

El-Said touched on the GDP losses, as the growth rate was expected to reach about 5.8%, however, after the crisis, it is expected to reach about 4%, losing about EGP 105 billion, which represents 2% of the 2018/19 GDP.

On the other hand, the non-oil trade balance deficit improved during Q3 of FY 2019/20 by about 24%, as  non-oil exports increased by 2.3%, and imports dropped by 39%.

Egypt growth estimates in 2020/21

Meantime, in light of studying the consequences of the crisis on sectors of the national economy and their performance levels in 20/2021, El-Said estimated the economic growth rate to reach 3.5% in 2020/21, compared to the achieved growth rate of 5.6% in 2018/19, and an expected rate of 4.2% for the FY 2019/20, which was reduced from 5.8%.