Reform program improves Egypt's economy, IMF expects higher growth

Egypt's ongoing economic reform program has improved the country's economy with expectations of higher growth by world financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In an annual report released Wednesday, the IMF expected Egypt's economic growth rate to reach 5.2 percent in the 2017-18 fiscal year (FY) and further accelerate to hit 5.5 percent in the 2018-19 FY compared to 4.2 percent last year.

Egypt's fiscal year starts in early July and ends in late June.

The IMF report said that Egypt's expected higher growth rates are "aided by an increase in gas production."

The country marked in late January the early production of Zohr gas field, the largest in the Mediterranean Sea, which was discovered in the Egyptian offshore by Italy's oil giant Eni in August 2015.

"One of the reasons for the growth is the expansion of long-term national projects due to sustainability, not only due to the anticipated hike of gas production," said Abdel-Rahman Taha, an economic expert specialized in emerging financial markets.

He said that current national projects, including establishing new administrative regions in Cairo and other cities, are examples of sustainable development for they include residential, industrial, agricultural and commercial areas.