Egyptian economy to improve in 2017’s initial months: FocusEconomics

The Egyptian economy is expected to witness fair, though slow, improvements during the first months of 2017, accompanied by a general state of stability, according to the March 2017 “FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast” report for the Middle East and North Africa region.The expected slowdown of the economy in fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017 is a result of the private consumption being severely impacted as high inflation rates greatly affect consumers’ purchasing power, the report said.Exports have also declined marginally, with business firms likely benefiting from an increase in competitiveness as a result of the devaluation of the pound.The “FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast” report expected the Egyptian gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 3.4% in FY 2016/2017, which is an unchanged prediction from February’s forecast, and to expand by 3.8% in FY 2017/2018.