Egypt's growth rate hit 5.3% in FY 2017/2018: minister

CAIRO - 26 July 2018: Egypt's growth rate for 2017/2018 fiscal year hit its highest level in ten years as it recorded 5.3 percent against 4.2 percent in the year before, Planning Minister Hala el Saeed said Thursday.

The economic growth rate hit 5.4 percent during the third and fourth quarters of 2017/2018 fiscal year, the highest ever rate in the past eight years, the minister said in statements on the sidelines of launching the third working group on the implementation of sustainable development goals in Egyptian governorates.

The working group was launched by the Planning Ministry in cooperation with the UN Population Fund and Basira Center for Public Opinion Research at a ceremony at the headquarters of the National Planning Institute.

Investments and net exports represented 76 percent of the growth rate, Saeed said.

She said all sectors of the country achieved a tangible progress during FY 2017/2018, saying Suez Canal, for example, contributed 10.7 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the fourth quarter of FY 2017/2018 and 10.2 percent for the entire year.

The minister said the extractive industries sector contributed 15.8 percent to the GDP during FY 2017/2018 to be followed by the transformative industries sector (12.2%), the construction sector (10.3%), the retail and the wholesale sector (9.6%), real estate activities (7%) and the agriculture sector (6.8%).

She also talked about a development in the growth rate of non-petroleum exports to stand at 24.1 billion dollars for FY 2017/2018 against 21.3 billion dollars the year before.