The latest steps taken by Egypt of lowering tariffs and customs duties as well as the amendments introduced into the tax system will have a positive effect on the investment sector and the expected growth rate, Egypt's Planning Minister Osman Mohamed Osman said Sunday.
During a news conference, Osman noted that the value of investments was expected to hit $ 100 billion in 2004/2005, compared to $ 81 billion the previous year.
In addition, he expected that the growth rate would reach 5.5 % this year, compared to 4.1 % in 2003/2004.
According to Osman, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2003/2004 amounted to L.E. 474 billion with an increase of L.E. 56.9 billion compared to 2002/2003. Thus, the per capita income increased from L.E. 6,142 to L.E. 6,843 in 2003/2004.
"The Agriculture sector posted a growth erate stimated at 3.3 per cent, building and construction sector registered a growth of 2 %, tourist sector 38 % and the convertible industries 3.5 %," he stated. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
