CAIRO: Egypt's economy may grow as slowly as 3 percent through the end of June if production does not get back on track and if labor strikes continue, said Finance Minister Samir Radwan on Thursday. Before the outbreak of the revolution, Egypt expected economic growth to reach 6 percent this year. Radwan told a news conference that the deficit in the balance of payments reached $3 billion and Egyptian exports declined by 40 percent since the start of the revolution. Egypt`s budget deficit may reach 10 percent if strikes continue, he added, and it has already started to increase, reaching 8.5 percent. This came as a report by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics noted that Egypt`s annual inflation has reached 10.8 percent, as the consumer price index hit 111.1 in February, recording a slight increased of 0.1 percent compared to the previous month. BM
