A Reuters’ poll showed the growth of Egypt's economy by 2.9 percent in the fiscal year ending in June, and that growth would rise to 5 percent in the following year as the Coronavirus pandemic subsides, and tourists return.
According to the survey, the declining tourism will be the main obstacle to the economy in the fiscal year 2020-2021, which will curb consumption and private investment.
The data of the Central bank showed that travel restrictions linked to Covid-19 led to a decline in tourism revenues to $1.8 billion in the second half of 2020, from $7.2 billion a year earlier.
It is also expected that the private investment would rebound in the wake of a recovery in tourism, with a positive impact extending to private consumption. Economists in the survey expected the economic growth to recover further to 5.5% in 2022-2023.
On the other hand, the economists expected in Reuters’ poll that the annual consumer price inflation in Egyptian cities would decline to 4.8 percent in 2020-2021, and then rise to 6.4 percent in 2021-2022, to slow down to 6.2 percent in 2022-2023.
Egypt recorded an annual inflation of 4.5 percent in March, higher than the 3.4 percent it recorded in August, when it neared its lowest level in 14 years.
Source (Al Khaleej Newspaper-UAE, Edited)
