According to an announcement made on August 25 by Egypt's economic development minister Othman Mohammed Othman, despite the global economic downturn the country's economy grew by 4.7 percent in the fiscal year 2008-09, which ended on June 30. The Egyptian government's previous forecasts put the growth rate at 4.5 percent.
Mr Othman told local reporters that the government has revised its projections for growth in FY 2009-10 to reflect the latest figures. Accordingly, it now expects Egypt's gross domestic product (GDP) to increase by 5.3-5.5 percent rather than by four percent in the next fiscal year.
Mr. Otham attributed the country's growth to the 4.1 percent increase in local consumer demand, which represents more than 80 percent of the economic growth average.
The minister also commented that the global slowdown resulted in economic losses of $11 billion for Egypt in the fiscal year in question, including $3.5 billion in oil revenues, $719 million in non-oil revenues, $1 billion in remittances and $5.3 billion in foreign direct investment, adding that direct investment declined from $13 billion before the economic crisis to $8 billion.
The Egyptian government implemented a stimulus program worth EGP 15 billion ($2.7 billion) in FY 2008-09. It is now considering another stimulus package worth EGP 10-15 billion for the new fiscal year.