CAIRO - Egyptian Finance Minister Samir Radwan said he expected gross domestic product would grow by only 3 to 4 per cent in fiscal year 2011/12, the state news agency MENA reported. Egypt's economy contracted by an estimated 7 perc ent in the January-to-March quarter as its popular revolt, which forced Hosni Mubarak to step down as president on February 11, disrupted business and shrank tourism and investment. Before the uprising, which began on January 25, the government had been predicting growth of around 6 percent. It is "necessary to return to work and production ... to return to normal levels before the revolution of January 25th and this is side by side with reviving tourism," MENA quoted Radwan as saying at a conference on Thursday. Egypt's fiscal year begins in July.
