Yearender 2020: Egypt’s economy showed resilience in face of coronavirus pandemic

  • Date: 29-Dec-2020
  • Source: Ahram
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Egypt
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Yearender 2020: Egypt’s economy showed resilience in face of coronavirus pandemic

Egypt's economy has withstood the shocks caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in February through the adoption by the government of an extraordinary combination of economic and monetray policies.

These policies ameliorated the negative impact of the pandemic on unemployment and inflation, while securing much needed funds for critical development projects.

As the year comes to a close, the country's economy survived the toughest test it faced since the launch of the economic reform programme in November 2016.

Macroeconomic indices

Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Egypt in February, Egypt's economic growth had recorded 5.6 percent in the first half of FY 2019/2020. However, growth began to decline in the third quarter of FY 2019/2020 to record five percent.

Growth registered 3.8 percent in the first quarter of FY 2020/2021 “” July-September “” and 3.5 percent in the second quarter of the fiscal year “” October-December, according to the Planning and Economic Development Ministry.

Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said said in September that growth may further contract to two percent in 2021.

Other macroeconomic indices were also affected by the coronavirus. Unemployment rates, for example, recorded their highest levels in two