Egypt is the third-largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa region (after Saudi Arabia and Israel), as well as one of the strongest, with significant potential for future economic growth and diversification. With a real commitment to economic reform, which encompasses a large privatization program and the encouragement of private investment and growth in the private sector, the attractions for both foreign direct investors and portfolio investors continue to increase. In my analysis I will first analyze the Egyptian economy in order to present a solid overview and background on which I will then base my own analysis on the effect of privatization on the Egyptian economy.

The Egyptian economy is the third largest in the MENA region (after Saudi Arabia and Israel) and is set to grow sharply as the effects of economic reform continue to kick in. Economic growth in the year to the end of June 1999 reached 5.7%, and should improve in the current year to reach 6%.

While budget deficit is set to fall to 1.1% of GDP, the

The four main state banks are not being privatized in the short term

The agricultural sector remains relatively large at 18% of GDP. This is a reflection of the damage done by nearly forty years of nationalization, which diminished Egyptian industry so that it is currently responsible for only 19% of GDP, just one percentage point more than agriculture. Agriculture is a cornerstone of life outside the Cairo and Alexandria conurbation and it is an area of production where there has been little investment as yet to improve productivity. Fields are still flooded to provide irrigation, wasting water, and the staple crop of upper Egypt is still sugar cane, rather than other more productive crops such as sugar beet or wheat.

c) Government and social services are an important element; and

Although statistics have been released on the construction industry over the past 18 months, there is no comparative historic data to help understand trends. For the year to the end of June 1998, construction accounted for 5% of GDP. Over the past year, construction.-at least in terms of housing- looks to have slowed down slightly, as the market for private housing appears to have over-heated in the short term.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ministry Economy, GDP June, Pound Growth, Lake Nasser-water, North Africa, Construction Construction, Arabia Israel, Prime Minister, GDP Egypt, Inflation Inflation, central bank, egyptian pound, egyptian economy, current account, budget deficit, foreign exchange, short term, economic growth, foreign exchange reserves, finance insurance, trade finance, trade finance insurance, structural adjustment program, current account deficit, finance insurance sector,
Approximate Word count = 4277
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)