Government presents report on Egyptian economy

Egypt’s economy struggling over the past year The Information Support Centre of the Cabinet of Ministers announced in a poll that 39 per cent of Egyptians believed that the revolution had significantly achieved its objectives, while another 39 per cent believed  few goals had been accomplished. Thirteen per cent said that the revolution had not achieved any of its aims.
Thirty-two per cent believed that the most important achievement was the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak and his regime. Meanwhile, 14 per cent consider the the exposure and elimination of corruption as the most significant outcome, whereas 11 per cent thought that the trial of former regime officials was the most prominent achievement.
The Centre added in the report entitled “The January 25 revolution in a year” that despite the accomplishments of the revolution, it also had negative consequences. In addition, it did not achieve a group of its aims even though it has been a year since the revolution began. From the standpoint of 40 per cent, lawlessness and spread of bullying were the worst consequences of the downfall of the former regime. Seventeen per cent thought the deaths and injuries among Egyptians was a particularly bad result of the revolution.
Seventy-five per cent believe that the trials of former regime officilas were going slowly. On the other hand, 13 per cent believed they were going on at a normal pace.
As for expectations, 56 per cent said that the overall situation would improve, however, 25 per cent could not predict whether things would get better or worse.
The report, obtained by Arabstoday, pointed out that there are many challenges currently facing Egyptians, such as: building a democratic society, achieving real progress in the economy, establishing social justice, and continuing building the state’s institutions.
Meanwhile, 18.5 million citizens participated in a referundum on constitutional amendments, with about 41 per cent participation. On a different note, the number of People’s Assembly voters was about 31.6 million, constituting a participation percentage of 62.8 per cent.
The report also revealed that Egypt's rank fell in the Global Competitiveness Index. It ranked 94 among 142 countries for the year 2011/2012, a 12-rank drop from last year. Egypt lost out on basic credentials items this year due to the weakness of the government with a lack of infrastructure and basic education.
The centre revealed that the value of Egyptian exports increased to EGP 249.6 billion during the revolutionary year, as it was EGP 240.6 billion in the previous year, which marks a rise of 2.7 per cent.
It also added that consumer spending from the real GDP was 84.7 per cent.
The economic growth rate during 2010/2011 declined compared to the previous year, as the GDP value at the market price was EGP 893.9 billion, while it was expected to reach EGP 901 billion.
The report divided the economic sectors according to their growth. The fastest growing sectors were agriculture, the Suez Canal and telecommunications.
Tourism revenues decreased by 8.7 per cent to be EGP 10.6 billion, although it was EGP 11.6 billion in the previous year. The centre pointed out that tourism will not thrive except through stability. It stated that the current period should be exploited to restructure tourism plans in order to draw a new segment of visitors, particularly rich tourists.
"Successful tourism is measured by the overall revenue not the number of tourists. Accordingly, new markets should be targetted, which are the Commonwealth," said the report.