Egypt’s Economic Growth at 5% in Quarter ended March 2020 Amidst COVID-19 Disruption

Egypt’s gross domestic production (GDP) grew by 5% during the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2019/20 (quarter ended 31st March 2020), according to Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development. The decline was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a slowdown in several sectors including tourism, wholesale and retail, and industry.

El-Said had previously revealed two scenarios to indicate the likely outcome of the pandemic on Egypt’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the first scenario estimating 4.2% growth for FY2019/2020 (ending 30th June 2020), a decline from the initially projected 5.8% GDP growth and 3.5% GDP growth for FY 2020/2021. The second scenario, which assumes a prolonged disruption beyond June 2020, is expecte...