EBRD expects Egypt's growth to reach 4.9% in 2021/22

CAIRO – 4 November 2021: Growth in Egypt is expected to pick up to 4.9 percent in the fiscal year 2021-22, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) stated.

EBRD stated in its Regional Economic Prospects report that the growth will be sustained by a boom in the telecommunications sector as well as a pickup in private consumption and investment and the return of foreign direct investment.

“However, risks include a slow uptake of Covid-19 vaccination and a weak outlook for the tourism sector in view of a likely delay in the global recovery of tourism,” it noted.

The bank stated that growth in Egypt slowed from 3.6 percent to 3.3 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2021.

EBRD attributed it to the sluggish manufacturing activity and weak tourism which offset the economic activities of the wholesale and retail trade, construction, agriculture and telecommunications sectors.

Meanwhile, inflation slowed to 4.5 per cent in the same fiscal year, below the central bank’s target, and began to increase in the period July to September 2021, averaging 5.9 per cent year-on-year, driven by increases in the prices of food and beverages, it added.