Economic growth, highest since 2008 at 6.6%

Egypt has recorded the highest growth rate since 2008 at 6.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

This statement by Minister of Finance Mohamed Maeet came in his address to the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Economic Forum on Monday.

The minister announced that Egypt is opening its doors to local, Arab and foreign investments with a strong political will that supports and stimulates the private sector.

The government has promising opportunities for local and foreign investors, thanks to the robustness of the local economy, which can overcome global shocks, the minister said.

The unemployment rate fell to 7.2 per cent in June 2022 with the creation of 826,000 jobs, he said.

“Debt-to-GDP ratio decreased from 103 per cent in June 2017 to 87.2 per cent in June 2022, compared to a global government debt ratio of 99 per cent of global GDP,” he added.

“Debt ratio also decreased by 15.6 per cent of GDP during the period 2016-2022, compared to an increase of 19.5 per cent in emerging countries. We aim to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 75 per cent by 2026,” Maeet told the forum.

This reflects the government’s success in directing development funds to real investments, projects and initiatives that contributed to improving infrastructure in various sectors, Maeet added.

Maeet said the budget deficit decreased from 13 per cent in fiscal year 2012-2013 to 6.1 per cent of GDP in 2021-2022, thus making the budget deficit rate for the first time in years lower than the average for emerging countries.

“We were able to achieve a primary surplus for the fifth year in a row at a value of LE100 billion at a rate of 1.3 per cent of GDP, which means that Egypt is one of the few emerging economies that achieved a primary surplus in FY 2021-2022,” he said.

State general budget revenues rose 19.6 per cent compared to an annual growth rate of expenditures of 14.8 per cent, the minister said. He pointed out that tax revenues also increased by 18.7 per cent.

Kuwait is the third largest Arab trading partner, and the fourth global trading partner to Egypt with 105 joint agreements covering various fields, as Kuwaiti investments in Egypt exceeded $15 billion.

The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Kuwait stands at $5 billion, the minister said.

“We are looking forward to enhancing Kuwaiti investments in Egypt to take advantage of unprecedented development opportunities,” the minister said.