Egypt’s gov't investment records LE40B during Q1 of 20/21

CAIRO – 23 December 2020: Egypt’s government investment reached LE40 billion during the first quarter of 2020/2021, marking a growth rate of 60 percent, according to Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Saeed.

El-Saeed added that LE 28.4 billion out of the government investments are funded by the public treasury, with an increase of 29 percent. 

She pointed out that the sectoral structure of these investments included the sectors of housing, pre-university and university education, local development, transportation, health, irrigation, and a number of other sectors.

The minister emphasized the acceleration of implementation rates in the human building sectors, as the growth rates of government investments in the university education sector were recorded at 116 percent, in pre-university education at 88 percent, and in health at 84 percent, compared to the rates recorded by these sectors during the past year.

Regarding the growth of the Egyptian economy during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020/2021, the minister referred to the slowdown in the growth rate during this period, as the rate decreased to 0.7 percent, affected by the slowdown in many activities due to the Coronavirus pandemic such as tourism, industry and others compared to the first quarter of the fiscal year of 2019/2020.

She emphasized that the measures taken by the state contributed to achieving a positive growth rate and reducing losses, and that without these measures the economy would have been expected to contract by about 1.2 percent.

El-Saeed added that if the growth rate is calculated without the tourism sector, the growth rate will rise to record 2.7 percent during the first quarter, as the tourism sector is one of the sectors most affected by the crisis, which shrank by 66 percent, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

On the sectoral growth rate during the first quarter of the fiscal year 20/2021, the minister explained that the preliminary indicators indicated that despite the Coronavirus crisis, the growth rate in many activities such as transportation and storage, agriculture, health, education, and general government achieved an increase. 

The Minister of Planning added that the unemployment rate decreased to 7.3 percent during the first quarter of the fiscal year 20/21, after it had reached 9.6 percent in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 19/20.

She attributed the decline as a result of a partial return to economic activity with the general tendency to ease the restrictions of closure and partial liberalization of the market, with the improvement of the performance of some labor-intensive activities. 

The minister emphasized that by comparing the unemployment rate at the international level, the unemployment rate in Egypt is the lowest of some developed countries and neighboring countries, which is due to the stimulus economic policies that were applied immediately and efficiently to preserve the facilities and the workforce while dealing with the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis.

With regard to the PMI, the Minister clarified that the index is stable at 50 degrees, which is an indication of the growing confidence of the business sector in the soundness of the economic climate in Egypt.