MENA’s growth to decelerate to 3.5% in 2023 amid the global economic crisis

In its Global Economic Prospects report, released on Tuesday, the World Bank revised down its projections for Egypt’s growth to 4.5 percent during the current FY2022/2023, down from 4.8 percent expected in October and below the 6.6 percent the country attained in FY2021/2022.

The report ascribed that to the high inflation that erodes real wages and weighs on domestic consumption.

"Weakening growth of external demand is also likely to limit activity in the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Fiscal and monetary policy tightening to rein in high inflation and a large current account deficit are expected to further restrain growth", the report explained.

The report said that despite the government and the Central Bank of Egypt's gradual dismantling of import rules to contain pressures on the balance of payment, trade disruptions are likely to remain due to restrictions on foreign currency procurements.

The report expected growth in oil exporting countries to inch down from 6.1 percent in 2022 to 3.3 percent in 2023 and 2.3 percent in 2024.