CAIRO: Egypt’s economy will grow steadily over the coming three years with inflation gradually declining, a Reuters poll of economists showed.
Also, Cairo’s hotel sector has seen its occupancy rates almost double during the first five months of 2022 amid the government’s efforts to boost tourism.
Economy
Egypt’s economy will grow fairly steadily over the coming three years, with inflation gradually declining from double digits and the pound weakening in the near-term, according to a Reuters poll.
Gross domestic product is forecast to expand a median 5.5 percent in the fiscal year that began this month, according to a Reuters poll of 19 economists taken between July 6 and 20, up slightly from the 5.2 percent predicted three months ago.
Hotel sector
Cairo’s hotel sector has seen its occupancy rates climbing to 60 percent in the first five month of 2022, almost double the 32 percent in the same period last year, according to a report from consulting firm JLL MENA.
Hotel occupancy rate is the percentage of occupied rooms at a given time compared to the total number of available rooms at that time.
This increase occurred as Egypt sought to provide a boost to its tourism industry, following the loss of Ukrainian and Russian visitors.
The government has launched a campaign called Follow the Sun to attract greater numbers of tourists from countries such as Germany, France, Italy and the US.
IPO watch
Egypt has approved pre-listing procedures for petrol stations operator Wataniya and water company Safi, which are both currently owned by the Egyptian army.
This move constitutes the first step towards stock market listings, according to a cabinet statement.
The cabinet gave no additional information on the timing of the sales.
Suez Canal Fund
Egypt’s Council of Ministers has approved draft amendments to the law establishing a fund owned by the Suez Canal Authority that is being set up to support the authority’s economic development.
The fund will contribute to the authority’s sustainable economic development through an optimal use of its funds and confronting crises and emergencies that occur as a result of any exceptional circumstances, force majeure, or bad economic conditions, according to the cabinet statement.