Manufacturing industries achieved a 8.3% growth rate during the fiscal year (FY) 2013/2014 compared to 2.3% during FY 2012/2013, according to a Ministry of Planning report issued on Monday. The report also said that Egypt's unemployment rate is stabilising at 13.3% in the FY 2013/2014. The agriculture sector grew at a rate of 3%, while tourism growth fell to 6.6% during FY 2013/2014 from 26.8% from FY 2012/2013, according to the report. Furthermore, negative revenues for the Suez Canal turned into positive revenues at a rate of 2.7%. Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian said that growth rates reached 3.7% during the fourth quarter of FY 2013/2014, while growth reached only 2.2% for FY 2012/2013. Growth rates for transport, storage, wholesale, retail, communication, information, and social services have increased, while that of the construction and public utilities sectors fell. Total investments recorded a growth rate of 12.9% with a total of EGP 280.6bn during FY 2013/2014, compared with a decline of 3.7% for FY 2012/2013. The report attributed the growth for investment during FY 2013/2014 to improvements in the investment climate. The volume of investments increased by 33.1% over the third quarter of FY 2013/2014, with a 22.6% increase from the fourth quarter of FY 2012/2013. Investment rates witnessed remarkable development during the fourth quarter of FY 2013/2014, achieving 18% growth compared to 14.1% in the third quarter, and 13.7% during the second quarter. Private sector investments accounted for the largest proportion of growth. According to the report, during FY 2013/2014, private sector investment accounted for 62.2% while government investments represented 19.3%. Public sector investments marked 9.5%, and economic institutions investments registered 9%. The overall deficit to GDP declined to 12.4% during FY 2013/2014 compared to 13.7% for FY 2012/2013. The balance of payments achieved a surplus of $1.5bn during FY 2013/2014 compared to $23.7m for FY 2012/2013. The total trade deficit reached $33.7bn during FY 2013/2014 year compared to $30.7bn for FY 2012/2013 as a result of a 3.7% increase in imports and a 3.2% drop in exports. Unemployment rates remained unchanged from FY 2012/2013, stabilising at 13.3%.
