Egypt's central bank confirms economic achievements under President Morsi

On 3 July, the Egyptian army carried out a coup against President Morsi, justifying their actions on the grounds that Egypt's economy could not survive and flourish under President Morsi. Yet, this 45% deficit reduction was due to economic policies implemented during Morsi's reign

The Egyptian Central Bank announced on Tuesday that net transfers from Egyptians working abroad increased during the past fiscal year to reach a record high of $18.7 billion. During the previous year, transfers totalled $18 billion.

The bank said in a statement that capital and financial transactions achieved a net influx of $9.7 billion compared with about only one billion USD during the previous year.

In addition, the Balance of Payments achieved an overall surplus of $237 million compared with a deficit of $11.3 million the previous year.

In Egypt, the fiscal year starts on 1 July and concludes on 30 June, thus these economic successes were all achieved under the government of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

According to the Bank, the deficit was also reduced by 45 per cent to $5.6 billion, compared with $10.1 billion during the previous fiscal year. The bank noted a considerable retreat in the deficit of the trade balance of 7.6 per cent.

Regarding investment in Egyptian stocks, the statement said that it achieved a net inflow of $1.5 billion compared with a net outflow of $5 billion during the previous year.

Meanwhile, the net income from the Suez Canal recorded a slight decrease of 3.4 per cent, down to $5 billion compared with $5.2 billion the previous year.

Payments from investment income also retreated by 11.6 per cent after foreign companies working in Egypt decreased their number of transactions.

However the tourism industry fared much better. The Anadolu news agency cites official Egyptian figures indicating that during the first half of this year, the number of tourists to Egypt had increased by 13 per cent. The same source also cited today the minister of industry and trade as confirming that exports from the agricultural sector increased by 20% during the financial year 2012-13, which coincided with Morsi's rule.

Economists remarked that these results reflect Egypt's economic success under the government of Hisham Qandil and President Morsi.

On 3 July, the Egyptian army carried out a coup against President Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, justifying their actions on the grounds that Egypt's economy could not survive and flourish under President Morsi.

And despite the unprecedented economic success of Morsi's government, on Tuesday US President Barack Obama candidly announced his support for the military coup, accusing President Morsi of failing to achieve the goals of the Egyptian revolution.

Although the bank recognised these accomplishments, they failed to attribute them to Morsi and his administration.

- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/7525-egypts-central-bank-confirms-economic-achievements-under-president-morsi#sthash.MpetzAE8.qMpQNArc.dpuf