Egypt’s economy thrills investors, but locals are struggling

[The SC]

THE INVESTORS gathered at a posh Cairo restaurant were eager to pour money into an economy that, just three years ago, lacked the hard currency to import cooking oil. A revolution in 2011 (and a coup two years later) tipped Egypt into economic crisis. Investors and tourists fled. Growth was anaemic. Unemployment peaked at 13.2%. President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi had to seek a $12bn loan from the IMF in 2016.

Since then, though, his government has followed what one executive admiringly calls “almost a caricature” of an IMF programme. The state has raised electricity and fuel prices. This summer the (previously massively subsidised) official price of many types of petrol will be indexed to market rates. Quite a few people have been trimmed from subsidy rolls. A budget deficit that hit 12.5% of GDP in 2015-16 has fallen. Next year it is expected to be a manageable 7.5%. The current-account deficit, which bottomed out at $19.8bn three years ago, was $6bn last year (see chart).
Investors call Egypt the world’s hottest emerging market. Bond sales are oversubscribed.

https://www.economist.com/middle-ea...y-thrills-investors-but-locals-are-struggling
https://www.economist.com/middle-ea...y-thrills-investors-but-locals-are-struggling

 

[Wilhelm II]

Egypt must rebuild it's great position in ME

 

[The SC]

Egypt must rebuild it's great position in ME

Egypt is doing just that:

http://documents.worldbank.org/cura...hip-Framework-for-the-Period-of-FY15-FY19.txt