Capital City: Cairo
	It is %T:%M %A in Cairo

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Economic trends

With the appointment of the current cabinet of ministries in July 2004, the Government of Egypt has revived a stalled economic reform program which was initially introduced in 1991. As a result, the cabinet economic team has simplified and reduced tariffs and taxes, improved the transparency of the national budget, revived stalled privatizations of public enterprises, and adopted policies to improve competitiveness. Consequently a moderate revival started in 2004 with a 4.1% GDP growth rate, followed by a very dynamic and sustained economic expension recording a rate of more than 7% for 2007 and 2008, as the FMI forcasts. But the inflation has increased recently (10% in 2007) and the unemployment rate is still high.

Main branches of industry

Despite the ongoing reforms, the economy is still hampered by government intervention, substantial subsidies for food, housing & energy, and bloated public sector payrolls. Moreover, the public sector still controls most of the heavy industry. Agriculture contributes nearly 14% to the GDP and employs nearly one-third of the active population. Warm weather and plentiful water (thanks to Nile river) permit several crops a year. The main crops are cereals, cotton and sugarcane. In the manufacturing sector, food processing industry has developed considerably and now contributes 17% to the GDP. However, the Egyptian economy relies heavily on tourism, oil and gas exports and Suez Canal revenues. Oil and gas sector accounts for approximately 12% of the GDP.

International trade

The Egyptian market has been opening up gradually, especially since the EU-Egypt Association Agreement which came into force in June 2004. The top three export partners are: Italy, the USA and Spain. Its top three import partners are: the USA, Germany and China. Egypt mainly exports mineral fuels & oils, cotton, and iron & steel; while as it mainly imports consumer electronic and capital goods, nuclear reactors and boilers, cereals, food products, and chemicals.