Egyptian exports show resilience during pandemic thanks to incentive measures: Cabinet

Egypt's foreign trade increases 18.2% to $34.4bn in FY 2020/21, compared to $29.1bn in FY 2019/20

The Egyptian Cabinet's Media Center said that the measures adopted by the Egyptian state to support the exports sector have achieved great success in enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian product in global markets.
A number of measures were developed to diversify and increase exports, despite the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector showed resilience in the face of the global trade crisis. Egypt's foreign trade increased by 18.2% to $34.4bn during fiscal year (FY) 2020/21, compared to $29.1bn in FY 2019/20.
Moreover, the trade deficit decreased by 6.7%, reaching $41.6bn in FY 2020/21, compared to $44.6bn in FY 2019/20.
The Cabinet report indicated that there was a significant leap in the value of Egyptian exports during the first seven months (7M) of 2021, increasing by 35.5% to $22.5bn, compared to $16.6bn in the same period of 2020.
The report named the top five countries that imported Egyptian products during FY 2020/21: Saudi Arabia by $2.2bn, the UAE by $2.07bn, the US by $2.02bn, Turkey by $1.94bn, and India by $1.89bn. Saudi Arabia accounted for 6.4% of the total Egyptian exports, the UAE by 6%, the US by 5.9%, Turkey by 5.6%, and India by 5.5%.
Egypt's exports of aluminium powder and foil came in first place, followed by woven cotton, dried vegetables, roots and tubers, vegetables, sand, and knitted fabrics.
The report reviewed the value of Egyptian exports over the past 25 years, which amounted to $34.4bn in FY 2020/21, compared to $3.3bn in 1995/96.
The report monitored the vision of international institutions for the future of Egyptian foreign trade, highlighting Moody's report regarding the continuous improvement of the labour market and exports which supports increasing the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy, and enhances Egypt's ability to absorb economic shocks.
Meanwhile, the World Bank expected that local economic activity in Egypt would be supported by increased exports and gas extraction, in addition to improving public investments, the gradual return of tourism, and the growth of the information and communication technology sector.
On the other hand, Fitch affirmed that Egypt has ambitious plans to modernize the sectors related to the food industry, aiming to increase its exports to all markets in the Middle East and Africa. The free trade agreements concluded with neighbouring countries lead to an increase in demand for Egyptian food exports.
The Economist also expects that the value of Egyptian exports will reach $35.3bn in 2021, $40bn in 2022, $41.4bn in 2023, $41.6bn in 2024, and $42.2bn in 2025.
The International Monetary Fund also expected that exports of goods and services would record $50.5bn in 2021/22, $60.5bn in 2022/23, $68.9bn in 2023/24, and $75.4bn in 2024/25.
In addition, S&P forecasts the trade deficit in Egypt to reach 8.8% of GDP in 2021/22, 7.9% in 2022/23, and 7.3% in 2023/24.