Mohamed el-Erian lists 4 transitions needed by Egypt economy

“A dynamic and growing Egypt constitutes an integral part of a more secure and stable Middle East,” Mohamed el-Erian, the chief economic adviser at Allianz SE, wrote in a Bloomberg editorial Tuesday, referring to an “economic transformation” Egypt hopes to see after the country’s Economic Development Conference that will start Friday.

Egypt’s economy grew by 5.6 percent in the first half of 2014/15 FY, roughly five-folds of the 1.4 percent growth achieved in the same period a year earlier, with the second quarter seeing 4.3 percent growth, Minister of Planning Ashraf al-Araby announced March 7.

Acknowledging significant improvement in Egypt’s economic performance, Erian still noted the country’s potential substantially outweighing current economic figures. Unlocking this “untapped potential” has been impeded for decades by political factors and bureaucratic red-tape, according to Erian.

Thus, in Erian’s own words, Egypt still must go through four transitional phases if it aspires to a prosperous economy: