Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf el-Arabi said that growth reached 2.6% during the first quarter of fiscal 2012-2013, compared to 0.3% in the year earlier. The value of the gross domestic product of the first quarter reached EGP 644 billion, Arabi said during a press conference held on Saturday about the indicators of the economic and social performance in the first quarter of 2012-2013 plan. The value of investments carried out during the first quarter reached EGP 50 billion, less than the corresponding quarter last year by 1.6%, Arabi added.