Egypt’s growth rates during fiscal year 2020/2021 has been downgraded to 2 percent on the back of to pandemic with expectations to rebound to 6.5 percent in 2021/2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report.
IMF added that the new expected percentage came as the global recovery is now expected to be more gradual and domestic activity is projected to remain weak for longer.
The country’s external debt is forecast to retreat to 21.8% of GDP in FY21/22 from a projected 23.8% in FY20/21.
Moreover, the IMF also stressed that “progress on structural reforms is essential to unlock Egypt’s higher growth potential.”
“The COVID-19 outbreak is driving a downward revision to Egypt’s growth by the IMF from 5.5 percent to 2 percent in FY2019/20, and from 5.2 to 2 percent in FY2020/21, particularly to reflect the sharp slowdown in tourism and supporting industries as well as manufacturing, real estate and trade, despite construction, oil refinery, and agriculture remaining fairly robust,” it noted.
As per 2021/2022, IMF expected real gross domestic product (GDP) to hit 6.5 percent and to record 5.3% in both 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
