CAIRO (Reuters) -Egypt’s real gross domestic product grew by 4.5% in the 2024-25 financial year, up from 2.4% the previous year, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said on Saturday, boosted by reforms tied to IMF financing and increased manufacturing activity.
The Arab world’s most populous country has come under economic pressure from a currency devaluation in March 2024, high inflation, and the impact of the war in Gaza.
Inflation, which peaked at a record 38% in September 2023, has begun to ease but remains high. Urban consumer price inflation fell to 13.9% in July from 14.9% in June.
Egypt’s fiscal year runs from July to the end of June.
In the budget it had predicted GDP growth of 4.2%.
Over the last year, the government accelerated economic reforms under an $8 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund and secured $24 billion in investment from the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund, including a major land deal on the Mediterranean coast.
In a news conference reviewing Egypt’s financial results, Kouchouk said the country lost 145 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.99 billion) in Suez Canal revenues in 2024-25 as a result of disruptions in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants on shipping. The previous year, revenues had reached $7.2 billion.
The minister also said Egypt imported 4.5 million metric tons of wheat, costing $1.2 billion, down more than 21% from the previous year.
Egypt, often the world’s largest wheat importer, requires more than 8 million tons annually to produce subsidised bread for over 70 million citizens. The government bought just over 3.9 million tons locally this year, falling short of its 4–5 million ton target.
($1 = 48.4600 Egyptian pounds)
(Reporting by Mohamed EzzEditing by Gareth Jones and Barbara Lewis)
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