Egyptian deficit hits 91.5bn EGP amid investment scramble

Egyptian ministers have blamed a decline in direct foreign investment Egypt’s Planning and International Cooperation Minister Ashraf el-Araby has announced Egypt’s budget deficit reached 40bn EGP during the final half of 2012, and could reach as high as 91.5bn EGP before the summer.
Speaking during a press conference at the Ministry on Thursday, Araby claimed Egypt had witnessed a “clear recession” due to a decline in direct foreign investment during the same time-period.
“The country needs to achieve a 22-percent rise in investment in order to reach an economic growth rate of seven percent,” he said.
The Egyptian government has set its sights on a three percent growth rate for the second half of this financial year, Araby said, adding that the current rate was around the 2.2-percent mark.
Egypt would chase 3.6-percent growth before the summer in order to achieve an annual sum of three percent.