Egypt’s economy swelled by around 4.3 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, its highest quarterly growth in two years, an Egyptian Minister reports.
GDP grew by around 3.7 percent in the first quarter of the current 2024-2025 fiscal year and 2.3 percent in the second quarter of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, said Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation.
“GDP grew by 4.3 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, driven by growth in the non-oil sector and expansion in private investments…it is the highest quarterly growth in more than two years,” Mashat told an economic conference in Cairo this week.
Her figures showed non-oil industries surged by nearly 17.7 percent in the second quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year (October-December) while there was an expansion of nearly 18 percent and 10.4 percent in the tourism and IT sectors.
Al-Mashat said non-oil industries recorded such a high growth after a contraction of around 11.56 percent in the second quarter of the previous fiscal year, adding that the recovery was mainly a result of higher private investment.
In her comments, published by Al-Ahram and other local newspapers on Wednesday, Al-Mashat said private investments soared by around 35.4 percent during October-December while public investments plunged by nearly 25.7 percent in the same period.
She said this was a result of a government policy to curtail public investments to encourage private capital and curb inflation, noting that the new policy includes a public investment ceiling of one trillion Egyptian pounds.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)
Subscribe to our Projects’ PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.
