Egypt’s GDP Growth Highest Since 2009

Egypt’s economy grew at its fastest pace in 7 years during the fourth quarter of the 2016/2017 financial year, its central bank said in a recent report, Mena reported. Gross domestic product in Egypt during the fourth quarter rose to 5% in the light of the recent economic reform measures which included floating the Egyptian pound and rationalizing fuel consumption last year, the Central Bank of Egypt said. Inflation rate in the North African country fell to 11.9% in the first quarter of the 2017/2018, the lowest level since 2011/2012, the central bank added. Meanwhile, Egypt is the number one producer of dates in the world, ahead of Iran and Saudi Arabia, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization said. The annual production is estimated at 1.5 million tons, equivalent to 17.7% of world production estimated at 7.5 million tons. As part of a technical cooperation project for the development of the value chain for dates, FAO said that a new training program for date producers has been completed in Egypt’s Siwa, al-Wahat al-Bahareya and the New Valley.