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Egypt’s Economy ‘Within A Whisker’ Of Overtaking South Africa For No. 2 Spot

Egypt’s Economy ‘Within A Whisker’ Of Overtaking South Africa For No. 2 Spot

From FinancialTimes. Story by Steve Johnson.

Egypt has not been a notable political or economic success story in recent years.

Violence, revolution and counterrevolution have left thousands dead and the army chief who overthrew the country’s first-ever democratically elected president firmly entrenched in Cairo’s Heliopolis Palace.

Capital controls imposed to support the Egyptian pound — in the wake of a slump in tourism receipts and foreign investment and a halving of foreign exchange reserves — have left many businesses struggling to secure the dollars they need to pay for imports.

Energy shortages mean manufacturers are having to contend with frequent power cuts.

Yet, according to one investment bank at least, Egypt’s economy has come within a whisker of overtaking that of South Africa as the continent’s second largest in dollar terms — heaping further ignominy on the latter, which lost its pole position to Nigeria in 2014.

“It is almost an aberration, but I still think it’s a shock,” said Charles Robertson, global chief economist at Renaissance Capital, who drew up the figures.

According to RenCap, Egypt’s gross domestic product will reach $315 billion this year, just a fraction behind the $317 billion of South Africa.

The figures represent a dramatic change from 2014, when Egypt’s GDP of $286 billion was comfortably behind the $350 billion of South Africa, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund.

Read more at FinancialTimes.