Egypt targets 5 pc growth by mid-2018

CAIRO: Egypt targets a five per cent economic growth rate in the year to June 2018, the finance ministry said as the government seeks to revive an economy battered by political turmoil.

Egyptian authorities have battled high unemployment, inflation and a collapse in tourism income since the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the 2013 military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first elected civilian president, vowed to get the economy back on track after his election the following year.

But consumers have been hit by further price hikes since November when Cairo floated its currency and slashed fuel subsidies as part of an economic reform package linked to a $12-billion International Monetary Fund loan.

The Egyptian pound had been pegged at 8.83 to the dollar, but has since weakened to more than 19 pounds to the dollar.

Egypt’s inflation rate jumped to 19.4 per cent in November from 13.6 per cent the previous month, according to the central bank.

Despite its woes, the government has projected a 5.2 per cent GDP growth in the year to June 2017. Economic output grew 4.3 per cent in the year to June 2016, the ministry of planning said in November. The finance ministry hopes to bring unemployment — which officially stood at 12.6 per cent from July to September — down to 11 per cent in the year to June 2018. — AFP