Egypt to Increase GDP Growth to 5.4%

A factory employee carries cloth in a thread spinning factory in Cairo, Egypt July 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A factory employee carries cloth in a thread spinning factory in Cairo, Egypt July 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Egypt to Increase GDP Growth to 5.4%

A factory employee carries cloth in a thread spinning factory in Cairo, Egypt July 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A factory employee carries cloth in a thread spinning factory in Cairo, Egypt July 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said that the country aims to reduce the budget deficit to 6.7 percent and increase the GDP growth to 5.4 percent.

On the sidelines of the 2021 International Monetary Fund and World Bank fall meetings, the minister said that the government adopts a financial policy balancing between maintaining financial stability, supporting manufacturing and export activities, and strengthening social protection networks.

During the fiscal year 2020/2021, Egypt posted a gross domestic product growth of 3.3 percent, a primary surplus of 1.45 percent of GDP, and an overall budget deficit of 7.4 percent, according to the minister.

For the current fiscal year, the government targets to achieve a GDP growth of 5.4 percent, a primary surplus of 1.5 percent, and an overall budget deficit of 6.7 percent.

Egypt's government debt to the GDP reached 91 percent at the end of the past year, and the purpose is to reduce it to less than 90 percent during the current fiscal year, Maait added.

In another context, Egypt's oil minister said on Sunday that foreign investments in the sector fell 26.02% to $5.4 billion in the financial year 2020-21, versus $7.3 billion a year earlier.

"The coronavirus crisis led to a slowdown in investments from international oil companies worldwide," Tarek El Molla said in a speech to the Egyptian Petroleum Association.

Molla said that Egypt's arrears to foreign oil firms decreased to $845 million by the end of the financial year 2020-2021, from $850 million a year earlier.



US Excludes Smartphones, Computers from Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs

Apple iPhone 16 are on display during the launch September 20, 2024, at the Apple Store in New York. (AFP)
Apple iPhone 16 are on display during the launch September 20, 2024, at the Apple Store in New York. (AFP)
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US Excludes Smartphones, Computers from Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs

Apple iPhone 16 are on display during the launch September 20, 2024, at the Apple Store in New York. (AFP)
Apple iPhone 16 are on display during the launch September 20, 2024, at the Apple Store in New York. (AFP)

The Trump administration has granted tariff exclusions for smartphones, computers and other electronics imports supplied largely by China, sparing them from much of President Donald Trump's steep 125% duties.

In a notice to shippers, the US Customs and Border Protection agency published a list of tariff codes that will be excluded from the duties. The exclusions are retroactively to 12:01 a.m. on April 5.

The US CBP listed 20 product categories, including the very broad 8471 code for all computers, laptops and disc drives and automatic data processing. It also included semiconductor devices, equipment, memory chips and flat panel displays.

The notice did not provide an explanation for the Trump administration's move, but the late-night exclusion provides welcome relief to major US technology firms, including Apple Dell Technologies and countless other importers.

The move represents another step back from Trump's maximalist tariff approach, including several escalations of his duties on Chinese goods.