Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said said Egypt's economic growth is projected to reach four percent in 2020 with a GDP loss estimated at EGP 105 billion in FY 2019/2020, which is the lowest among countries globally. El-Said's comments were made during her participation in the plenary parliamentary session on Tuesday to discuss parliament's budget and planning committee's report regarding the FY 2020/2021 budget plan. El-Said added that inflation reached five percent in May, the unemployment rate recorded 7.5 percent, and trade balance deficit declined to 36 percent. On Egypt's economic growth amid the COVID-19 crisis, El-Said explained that the country is reaping the benefits of the national mega projects, with the total cost of EGP 6 trillion, which contributed to improving Egypt's ranking in several global indices. She added that investments in the information and communication technology sector have been raised in FY 2020/2021 budget plan by 300 percent, given that the COVID-19 crisis has proved the importance of this sector that witnessed investments worth EGP 40 billion over the past years. She added that construction sector investments have increased by 77 percent, as the sector comprises a huge workforce. She noted that 70 percent of slum areas across the country have improved. More than EGP 5 billion were appropriated for industrial complexes, while investments in the health sector have been raised by more than EGP 21 billion, with an increase exceeding 72 percent on the allocations allocated of previous years, according to El-Said. She added that EGP 8 billion were allocated for the neediest villages in the FY 2020/2021 budget, saying that the budget takes into account the fair distribution of investments through directing 60 percent of public investments towards lower-income and border cities. “The COVID-19 crisis has affected several sectors in Egypt, such as tourism and aviation. Nonetheless, the Egyptian economic growth rate is still the best globally thanks to the diversity that the Egyptian economy has and the success of the country's economic reform programme,” said El-Said.
