FINANCIAL NEWS

Political unrest hampers Egypt economy growth

26 Dec 2011

(MENAFN) Egypt’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of the fiscal year, driven by the shrinking in the contraction in tourism, manufacturing and construction sectors because of the country’s unrest, Bloomberg reported.

The country’s central bank said that the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February kept tourists from coming to the country, and brought foreign direct investment down 93 percent in the first nine months of the year to USD376 million.

Data released by the Ministry of Planning showed that gross domestic product expanded 0.2 percent in the three months to September, slower than 0.4 percent growth in the previous three months.

The data also showed that tourism contracted 10.4 percent and manufacturing shrank 3.3 percent and construction fell 2.8 percent.

Egypt’s foreign currency reserves also fell 44 percent in the first 11 months to USD20.2 billion.

Total investments declined 18 percent to USD7.6 billion, while Suez Canal revenues grew 8.4 percent and telecommunications expanded 3.7 percent, the data showed.

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