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Occupying the northeast corner of the African continent, Egypt is bisected by the highly fertile Nile valley, where most economic activity takes place. Egypt's economy was highly centralized during the rule of former President Gamal Abdel NASSER but has opened up considerably under former President Anwar EL-SADAT and current President Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK. Cairo from 2004 to 2008 aggressively pursued economic reforms to attract foreign investment and facilitate GDP growth. The global financial crisis has slowed, but not stopped, the reform efforts. The international economic downturn slowed Egypt's GDP growth to 4.7% in 2009, predominately affecting export-oriented sectors, including manufacturing and tourism, and Suez Canal revenues. Growth in domestic sectors, including energy, transportation, telecommunications, retail trade, and construction kept economic growth from falling further in 2009. The government announced three separate stimulus packages between the end of 2008 and the end of 2009 totaling $6.3 billion, but it is not clear how much has been spent. Despite high levels of economic growth over the past few years, living conditions for the average Egyptian remain poor.
Investment (gross fixed):
17.9% of GDP (2009 est.)
Industrial production growth rate:
3.9% (2009 est.)
from The World FactBook