AfDB lowers Egypt’s inflation projection to 14%, GDP to grow 4.8% in coming FY

The AfDB projects Egypt’s average inflation rate at 14% for the next fiscal year (FY2023/2024), down from 20%, citing “high food and nonfood prices and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar"

By: Business Today Egypt

Mon, May. 29, 2023

Egypt’s GDP is expected to grow to 4.8% in FY2023/2024, according to the African Economic Outlook 2023 revealed during the African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB) annual meetings. This is slightly higher than the previously forecasted 4.4% for the current fiscal year.

While the report highlighted the government’s IPO program, which is set to attract around $40 billion in investments, it also noted that Egypt’s focus on external financial still signifies a substantial risk.

The AfDB projects Egypt’s average inflation rate at 14% for the next fiscal year (FY2023/2024), down from 20%, citing “high food and nonfood prices and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar."

For the continent, AfDB expects inflation to ease in most African countries in 2024 due to tight monetary policies, noting that Egypt attributed the most to the North African region’s raised average inflation rate.

AfDB also highlighted Egypt’s deaccelerating inflation, with its annual headline inflation rate dropping to 31.5% in April, its first decline in 10 months.

Egypt's current account deficit is predicted to reach 3% in FY2023/24, setting its expected budget deficit at 5.4% for the same period, the report explained.

The budget deficit is expected to climb to 6.9% of Egypt’s GDP for the coming FY, compared to a previous estimate of 6.3%, it wrote.

For FY2022/2023, the AfDB estimated the budget deficit and current account deficit at 6% and 3.5%, respectively.