Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait confirmed that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) announcement that it raised its estimates of the growth rate of the Egyptian economy in 2022 to 5.6% instead of last October’s 5.2% is a new testimony of confidence in the solidity of the Egyptian economy, and its ability to withstand global challenges.
At a time when estimates for global economic growth declined by 5%, Egypt has become the only country among oil-importing countries to achieve positive growth despite the sharp rise in oil prices and shipping costs as a result of the good management of the post-outbreak repercussions of the pandemic as well as a positive economic performance.
Maait explained that the economic reform programme contributed to strengthening the structure of the national economy, mitigating the severity of the shock, and containing the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic, as Egypt became more capable of professional and balanced management of this global crisis.
He added that the successive certificates of confidence that the Egyptian economy received from international financing and rating institutions during the last period confirm that it is on the right track, including the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report, which included raising its expectations for economic growth by 1% to reach 5.5% in 2022, which reflects the efforts made by the government to improve the growth structure to become more diversified, and indicates the importance of maximising production capacities, expanding the export base, and providing job opportunities.
It also illustrates Egypt’s success in dealing positively with the pandemic, as the political leadership took the initiative to allocate a financial support package amounting to 2% of the GDP to support the most affected sectors and groups.
For his part, Ahmed Kochouk, the Deputy Minister for Financial Policies and Institutional Development, said that Egypt is the only country in the Middle East and Africa that has retained the confidence of all the three global assessment institutions — Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch — during one of the most difficult periods in the global economy.
He explained that the government will continue to implement an integrated package of structural reforms to strengthen the macroeconomic structure, which contributes to achieving economic goals and positively reflects on financial indicators.
Furthermore, He pointed out that this report confirms the confidence of IMF experts in the performance of the national economy, in light of the government’s increasing interest in opening new development horizons that contribute to strengthening the private sector’s participation in development projects. This will help create new job opportunities, leading to higher growth rates.
