ECONOMY:
Economy—overview: At the end of the 1980s, Egypt faced problems
of low productivity and poor economic management, compounded by the
adverse social effects of excessive population growth, high inflation,
and massive urban overcrowding. In the face of these pressures, in 1991
Egypt undertook wide-ranging macroeconomic stabilization and structural
reform measures. This reform effort has been supported by three IMF
arrangements, the last of which expired in September 1998. Egypt's reform
efforts—and its participation in the Gulf war coalition—also
led to massive debt relief under the Paris Club arrangements. Substantial
progress has been made in improving macroeconomic performance. Cairo
tamed inflation, slashed budget deficits, and built up foreign reserves
to an all-time high. Although the pace of structural reforms—such
as privatization and new business legislation—has been slower than
envisioned under the IMF program, Egypt's steps toward a more market-oriented
economy have prompted increased foreign investment. The November 1997
massacre of foreign tourists in Luxor affected tourism enough to slow
the GDP growth rate for 1998 compared to earlier projections. Tourism's
slow recovery, coupled with low world oil prices, caused a downturn
in foreign exchange earnings in 1998, but external payments are not
in crisis.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$188 billion (1998 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 5% (1998 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$2,850 (1998 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 16%
industry: 31%
services: 53% (1997)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption
by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.9%
highest 10%: 26.7% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.6% (1998)
Labor force: 17.4 million (1998 est.)
Labor force—by occupation: agriculture 40%, services, including government 38%, industry 22% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: 10% (1998 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $20 billion
expenditures: $20.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $4.4
billion (FY97/98)
Industries: textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, petroleum, construction, cement, metals
Industrial production growth rate: 9.4% (1997 est.)
Electricity—production: 46 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity—production
by source:
fossil fuel: 76.09%
hydro: 23.91%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)
Electricity—consumption: 46 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity—exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture—products: cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats; fish
Exports: $5.5 billion (f.o.b., FY97/98 est.)
Exports—commodities: crude oil and petroleum products, cotton yarn, raw cotton, textiles, metal products, chemicals
Exports—partners: EU, US, Japan
Imports: $16.7 billion (c.i.f., FY97/98 est.)
Imports—commodities: machinery and equipment, foods, fertilizers, wood products, durable consumer goods, capital goods
Imports—partners: US, EU, Japan
Debt—external: $28 billion (FY97/98 est.)
Economic aid—recipient: ODA, $2.4 billion (1996)
Currency: 1 Egyptian pound (£E) = 100 piasters
Exchange rates: Egyptian pounds (£E) per US$1—3.4 (November 1994); market rate—3.3880 (January 1999), 3.3880 (1998), 3.3880 (1997), 3.3880 (1996), 3.3900 (1995), 3.3910 (1994)