CAIRO: Egypt's economy continues to struggle as political and social turmoil wrack the country. According to a report published on Sunday, the Egyptian economy grew only 0.2 percent in the first quarter of the current 2011/2012 fiscal year. The ministry of planning, in a report published by Bloomberg news agency, said that the rate of growth dropped between July and October well below the previous quarter, which saw another slow month, at 0.4 percent growth. The ministry argued that the slowdown was a result of a lack of tourism to the country as well as a downturn in manufacturing and construction. “The GDP figures are actually better than our forecasts, which was for the economy to shrink by some 1 percent,” said Monette Doss, research manager at Prime Holdings, in comments published by al-Ahram daily newspaper. The research manager argued that the economy continues to struggle because families and overall household consumption remains low. “It seems that households were not as responsive to the economic recession and the increased unemployment as expected,” she was quoted as saying. Making matters worse was the rise of the unemployment rate in the country. Officially it is now at 11.9 percent, the highest it has been in 10 years. But economic experts told Bikyamasr.com that the actual unemployment rate in the country is much higher, and is a worrisome factor as the country looks to the future. “There just aren't any jobs to be had for people,” said Omar Othman, a financial researcher at the ministry. He told Bikyamasr.com that it is “difficult to truly gauge the unemployment statistics because of how this country is run. I think the problem we are facing is a lack of new jobs on the market.” For workers in the country, this is not promising news. Ask Gamal Tarek, a 24-year-old recent graduate of graphic design. He told Bikyamasr.com that “it was impossible” to find a job upon graduation. “And now, I have to work part-time in a cafe just to make some extra money because nobody is hiring,” he said. Tourism, one of the country's top foreign currency earners, was down a massive 10.4 percent in the quarter, as the number of tourists dropped by more than one third. The reason is likely the continued instability in the country as protesters and the military clash on the country's streets. Ahram reported the manufacturing sector shrank 3.3 percent and construction 2.8 percent annually in the quarter. Investments were also hit hard, dropping 18 percent to $7.6 billion. This is a reflection of the drop in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) which fell to $440.1 million in July-September from $1.60 billion a year earlier. Growth in the telecommunications sector, which expanded by 3.7 percent, eased the drop. The crisis in the economy is indicated in Egypt's budget deficit, which is forecast to growth to a maximum of 11.7 percent of GDP as opposed to the originally expected 8.6 percent. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/okUFf Tags: Economy, featured, Growth, Tourism, Unemployment Section: Business, Egypt, Latest News
