According to The Economist, the “normalcy index,” which offers a framework to assess changes in behavior and dynamics associated with the pandemic’s arrival, encompasses the world’s most powerful 50 economies, which account for 90% of global GDP and 76 percent of the world’s population.
As per the index, Egypt stood at fourth place in the top 10 counties with the highest resilience in the pandemic. The pandemic induced socioeconomic challenges significantly impacting education, employment, income, welfare, etc. In the last year.
The Minister of International Cooperation H.E Dr. Rania A Al-Mashat described the index and the elements it incorporates. The strength of Egypt is perceived as it embarks the 4th position due to its agility and the way it overcame the challenges posed in the pandemic with resilience. The country still stressed the commitment to the 2030 national agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The normalcy index that shows the strength of the countries maintains the momentum of economies while taking care of the welfare segment of the communities. The index categorizes the economic indicators into three categories: transportation, entertainment and retail, and work. The metrics show how the world is achieving its goals and reaching pre-pandemic levels in all sectors.
Despite the tormenting scenario in the previous year, the Egyptian economy achieved growth rates at 3.6% and earned praise from the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The economy is deemed positive due to the proper introduction of economic reforms of 2016 to 2019 and ongoing major national projects.
Some of the decisions made by the country include interest rate reductions, such as the Egyptian Central Bank cutting policy interest rates by 400 basis points in 2020. Deposit rates were lowered from 12.25 to 8.25 percent to boost the economy. It helped relieve financial market pressures on the domestic market.
According to Moody’s The Egyptian logistics, expenditure is likely to surpass USD 50 billion by 2024. The tourism sector sprung up with nearly $4 million in revenues in the first half of 2021. Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Saeed expects Egypt may generate $6 billion from tourism in the current fiscal year.
According to Jonathan S. Fischer, the United States Embassy Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, the United States and Egypt exchanged $7bn in trade in 2020. However, Egypt was the second-largest trading partner for the United States with exports of mineral fuels, textiles, and apparel.
