IMF Mission Praises Egyptian Economic Performance

A report by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Egypt praised the Egyptian economic performance.

The Egyptian economy achieved high economic growth rates in the fiscal year 2006/2007, the mission said.

The IMF mission under Klaus Enders, met at the end of its visit to Egypt with the Egyptian ministerial group on economic policies to make an assessment of the Egyptian economic and financial performance last year.

The IMF's mission met with officials of the Central Bank of Egypt, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics and a number of Egyptian institutions.

The mission conducted a report on developments achieved in the Egyptian economy, the monetary policy and foreign capital in Egypt. The report said Egypt's economic growth rate in the fiscal year 2006/2007 reached 7.1%.

It added that Egypt's commodity and service exports increased in the last fiscal year, achieving a surplus of $ 2.7 billion in the 2006/2007 balance of trade.

The report said foreign capital reserves hit $ 30 billion late last August.

The report attributed the improvement in the trade balance deficit to structural reforms adopted by the Egyptian government in policies and tax systems.

According to the report, the Egyptian economy's potentials to face crisis during the coming period are limited in light of flow of long-term investments.

The report added that in order to realize high growth rates with inflation rates ranging 6-8 percent, the national saving should be increased.

Among the impediments the Egyptian economy faces are the inability to provide enough finance to the small and medium scale projects, the report added.

The report asserted the importance of following up the inflation rates by the Central Bank of Egypt. The report praised the performance of the flexible fiscal policy in Egypt.