CAIRO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Egypt's budget deficit will dip below 8 percent of its output this year, helped by growth that should meet government expectations of at least 6 percent, ministers said on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister also moved again to play down concerns over the health of President Hosni Mubarak, without giving any clarity on whether the president, 82, would run in a presidential election next year.
Fund managers and other investors have been attracted by Egypt's resilient economic expansion in the global downturn, with growth bottoming out just below 5 percent. They remain wary ahead of the 2011 presidential poll, however, which could bring an end to Mubarak's three decades in power.
Addressing a business conference, Egypt's Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said he saw the country's economy growing 6 percent in the financial year ending in June 2011.
Following the speech, he told reporters that growth 'would be 6 percent or above'.
The economy grew by 5.2 percent in 2009/10 and 4.7 percent in 2008/09.
Boutros-Ghali also forecast a budget deficit of 7.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year. That compares with 8.3 percent in the 12 months to the end of June 2010.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told al-Mal newspaper that Egypt did not need a new economic stimulus package 'as the economic indicators show that the Egyptian economy is advancing by firm steps from one quarter to another'.
He confirmed an earlier government forecast for 6 percent economic growth in 2010/11 and said the July-to-September quarter would show growth of up to 6 percent.
Responding to investor concerns about the president's health, a subject of speculation since he underwent gallbladder surgery in March, Nazif said Mubarak's foreign trips and other appearances served to 'silence rumours about his health.'
If the president decided not to run, he said the ruling party, which dominates this parliament and is once again expected to sweep a parliament vote in November, would be 'able to introduce a strong candidate in the upcoming elections'.
If Mubarak does not run, many Egyptians believe his son Gamal, 46, could take the helm. That might reassure investors as Nazif and his economic team in cabinet are seen as Gamal allies.
In a separate interview for the newspaper, Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, said measures to support the economy over the next 18 months, would include promoting public private partnership deals to attract as much as 50 billion pounds into projects including roads, water and drainage.
'The government is poised to take measures that will drive up growth in the domestic economy,' he told al-Mal. 'We want to go beyond the 6 to 7 percent growth barrier.'
(Reporting by Patrick Werr; Writing by Edmund Blair and Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Patrick Graham) ($1=5.702 Egyptian Pound) Keywords: EGYPT ECONOMY/ (edmund.blair@thomsonreuters.com, +20 2 2578 3290, Reuters Messaging: edmund.blair.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The Prime Minister also moved again to play down concerns over the health of President Hosni Mubarak, without giving any clarity on whether the president, 82, would run in a presidential election next year.
Fund managers and other investors have been attracted by Egypt's resilient economic expansion in the global downturn, with growth bottoming out just below 5 percent. They remain wary ahead of the 2011 presidential poll, however, which could bring an end to Mubarak's three decades in power.
Addressing a business conference, Egypt's Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said he saw the country's economy growing 6 percent in the financial year ending in June 2011.
Following the speech, he told reporters that growth 'would be 6 percent or above'.
The economy grew by 5.2 percent in 2009/10 and 4.7 percent in 2008/09.
Boutros-Ghali also forecast a budget deficit of 7.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year. That compares with 8.3 percent in the 12 months to the end of June 2010.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told al-Mal newspaper that Egypt did not need a new economic stimulus package 'as the economic indicators show that the Egyptian economy is advancing by firm steps from one quarter to another'.
He confirmed an earlier government forecast for 6 percent economic growth in 2010/11 and said the July-to-September quarter would show growth of up to 6 percent.
Responding to investor concerns about the president's health, a subject of speculation since he underwent gallbladder surgery in March, Nazif said Mubarak's foreign trips and other appearances served to 'silence rumours about his health.'
If the president decided not to run, he said the ruling party, which dominates this parliament and is once again expected to sweep a parliament vote in November, would be 'able to introduce a strong candidate in the upcoming elections'.
If Mubarak does not run, many Egyptians believe his son Gamal, 46, could take the helm. That might reassure investors as Nazif and his economic team in cabinet are seen as Gamal allies.
In a separate interview for the newspaper, Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, said measures to support the economy over the next 18 months, would include promoting public private partnership deals to attract as much as 50 billion pounds into projects including roads, water and drainage.
'The government is poised to take measures that will drive up growth in the domestic economy,' he told al-Mal. 'We want to go beyond the 6 to 7 percent growth barrier.'
(Reporting by Patrick Werr; Writing by Edmund Blair and Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Patrick Graham) ($1=5.702 Egyptian Pound) Keywords: EGYPT ECONOMY/ (edmund.blair@thomsonreuters.com, +20 2 2578 3290, Reuters Messaging: edmund.blair.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.