Economy

In 2017 the World Bank estimated that GDP grew by 3.9% over the year, and forecast it would expand by 4.6% in 2018 – a significant improvement on the 2% average GDP growth rate seen between FY 2010/11 and FY 2013/14. A newly liberalised currency and the recent implementation of a much-anticipated investment framework have also left Egypt well positioned for continued economic expansion in 2018. Despite a gradually improving fiscal scenario, a structural fiscal deficit remains the key economic challenge, and one that nearly all of its reforms aim to address. Raising revenue via taxation is one way the government is attempting to tackle the fiscal deficit, and in the first half of FY 2017/18, tax revenue reached LE249bn ($16.4bn), a year-on-year increase of 66%.

This chapter contains interviews with Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation; and Tarik Tawfik, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.