Poll: Egypt's economy set to grow 3.3 pct this fiscal year

Egypt's economy is set to grow 3.3 percent this fiscal year, according to economists polled by Reuters, who nudged up their forecasts from last quarter as confidence has started to return.

The forecast is close to the government's prediction of 3.5 percent growth in gross domestic product.

Three years of turmoil since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak has hit the economy, discouraging investors, causing tourists to flee and slashing growth to below 2 percent in the 2010/11 financial year.

Egypt has received more than $12 billion in aid from Gulf states since ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013.
The aid has kept the economy afloat but the government is also introducing reforms as it tries to encourage growth while curtailing its budget deficit.

In July, Egypt slashed energy subsidies that have long weighed on state finances, resulting in price rises but sending a signal that it was willing to push ahead with reforms.

The consensus of 11 economists polled by Reuters in the past two weeks was for economic growth of 3.3 percent in the current fiscal year ending June 2015 - above the 3.2 percent forecast in a poll published in May.