Egypt economy loses $23.6bn in 2020

Egypt’s state budget incurred losses of 370 billion Egyptian pounds ($23.6 billion) in 2020 due to the repercussions of the coronavirus outbreak, the finance minister announced yesterday.

Mohamed Maait told Al-Arabiya that the most affected sectors had included “civil aviation, tourism and construction.”

“The tourism sector was predicted to achieve about $14 billion in revenues during the current fiscal year, but the pandemic spoiled our plans,” Maait noted, adding that his government was aiming to achieve a “primary surplus of 1.5 percent increase in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

He pointed out that his ministry had reduced the budget deficit prediction for the financial year 2020-21 to “6.7 percent, down from 7.8 percent.”

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