Dr. Rania Al Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic
Development, and International Cooperation, stated that the government’s
efforts to strengthen governance of public investments are delivering results
by creating greater space for the private sector and reducing public spending.
This contributed to a 25.9 percent increase in private sector investments,
bringing their share to 66 percent of total investments.
She added that public investments declined to 34 percent of
total investments, reflecting a clear government focus on priority projects and
expanding opportunities for the private sector.
The ministry also announced that Egypt’s gross domestic
product (GDP) growth rate increased during the first quarter of fiscal year
2025/2026, reaching 5.3 percent, compared with 3.5 percent in the corresponding
quarter of the previous fiscal year.
This accelerated growth was supported by continued
implementation of economic and structural reforms aimed at strengthening the
real economy, enabling the private sector, and shifting the economic structure
toward high-productivity, tradable sectors such as manufacturing, tourism, and
telecommunications.
Growth during the first quarter of fiscal year 2025/2026 was
driven by significant expansion in several sectors, including manufacturing,
tourism, and information and communications technology, in addition to the
recovery of activity in the Suez Canal, which recorded positive growth for the
first time since the second quarter of fiscal year 2023/2024.
The achieved growth rate was further supported by expansion
in non-oil manufacturing (14.5 percent), information and communications
technology (14.5 percent), tourism (13.8 percent), and financial intermediation
(10.2 percent). Several other sectors also recorded a notable recovery,
including insurance, electricity, social services such as health and education,
wholesale and retail trade, and agriculture.