Egypt's real GDP growth is expected to accelerate 5.5 percent by end of the current FY2020/2021, which ends in June. Egypt also recorded a 2.9 percent growth in the third quarter of the fiscal year (January-March), Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said announced. El-Said made her comments while reviewing Egypt's FY2020/21 figures during the Cabinet's weekly meeting held on Wednesday. El-Said also noted that Egypt's real GDP growth averaged 1.9 percent during the first nine months of FY2020/21, compared to 5.4 percent in the same period of FY2019/20 The net foreign direct investments (FDIs) headed to Egypt have also started to recover. As of the second half of the current FY2020/21 (July-December), the number increased to $3.4 billion, up from $2.5 billion in the second half of FY2019/20. She added that Egyptian expat remittances increased to $15.5 billion during the first half of FY2020/21, growing by 10 percent compared to the same period of FY2019/20. Meanwhile, Egypt's trade balance deficit decreased 1 percent during the third quarter of FY2020/21 (January-March) to reach $9.6 billion, down from $9.7 billion in the same quarter of FY2019/20, according to the minister. Moreover, Egypt's non-oil commodity exports jumped by 6 percent during the same quarter to $7.4 billion, up from $7 billion in the third quarter of FY2019/20. On inflation rates, El-Said said that the annual headline inflation rate declined in April to 4.4 percent and the monthly rate contracted to 1.2 percent. Egypt's FY2021/22 is expected to be rolled out as of 1 July with a total budget value of EGP 2.6 trillion (roughly $165.8 billion), the biggest in Egypt's history, increasing from a value of EGP 2.2 trillion (roughly $140.3 billion) for the current FY2020/2021 budget. FY2021/22 is projected to witness an increase in real GDP growth to 5.4 percent, compared to an estimated 2.8 percent in FY2020/21. This projected growth comes in light of the incremental recovery of Egypt's economy following the easing of pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated impacts. The government intends to curb the budget deficit in FY2021/22, lowering it to 89.0 percent of GDP, down from an estimated 89.8 percent of GDP in the current FY2020/21. It also working on extending the debt repayment period to reach 4.2 years by the end of FY2021/22, up from the 3.6 years expected by the end of FY2020/21.
