Egypt Might Just Be the Only Nation in the MENA Region to See GDP Growth in 2020

Egypt might just be the only nation in the Middle East and North African region to see a positive GDP growth in 2020. That's not us saying it, or the words of some optimistic banker - this prediction comes straight from a press briefing by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They're attributing this growth to safety net programmes like Takaful and Karama that had been established in 2016, and have since allowed the population to weather the storm that is COVID-19 better than most.

While it hadn't been immune to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic - Egypt experienced a 12% slowdown in global trade activities in 2020, as well as the expected results of a lockdown that affected tourism and businesses pretty much everywhere -  an infusion of about USD 8 billion from the IMF contributed to the resilience of the Egyptian economy. While other countries in the MENA re received monetary assistance from the Fund, the stability of the reserves at Egypt's Central Bank, and the decrease in inflation that came with it, have been cited as major reasons that Egypt in particular has been able  to get the better of 2020. The report suggests that as long as Egypt keeps supporting its own structural reforms, and keeps these financial safety nets up, it may continue to experience further growth into 2021.