The report of the People's Assembly Budget and Planning Committee on the final account of the State budget unveiled that the global economic crisis has had many negative consequences on the Egyptian economy. The People's Assembly is due to begin discussing the report tomorrow at the presence of the head of the Central Auditing Organization (CAO), Counselor Goudat el-Malt. According to the report, foreign investments fell by some 30% in the first quarter of the 2008/2009 fiscal year, when the global economic recession started. The report ascribes this fall to the decrease in foreign investments (from $1.7 billion to LE 400 million compared to the same period) into new companies or into existing companies' capitals. This came although such investments considerably increased in the sectors of oil and real estates. Privatization revenues, in the meantime, also went up. According to the report, Suez Canal revenues fell in the second quarter of the 2008/2009 fiscal year by some $200 million (13.7%) compared to the first quarter. The report says this is a direct consequence of the fall in the number of ships transiting across the Canal and in their net cargos by 8% and 8.8% respectively. The growth rate in terms of tourists also fell during the second quarter of the year 2008/2009 (down to 1%, compared to 15% in the first quarter), says the report. Tourism revenues also dropped significantly (by 11%) in the second quarter of this year, as they made some $2.4 billion in October and December 2008 compared to some $2.7 billion in the same period of the previous year. The number of nights spent by tourists in Egypt fell to some 23.1 million compared to some 28.9 million in the same period of the previous year (down by 11%). The report mentions the results of the final account of Egypt's economic authorities and organizations. It says those authorities and organizations spent a total of approximately LE 514.6 billion (LE 347 billion of current expenditure and LE 167.6 billion of capital expenditure), i.e. some LE 151.1 billion (41.6%) more than originally budgeted. The report points out that the Egyptian economy is very much safe from the ghost of the recession which is currently haunting the global economy. Growth rates have remained positive despite falling, as the growth rate in the second quarter of the 2008/2009 fiscal year stood at approximately 4.1%.
