Egypt first quarter GDP growth 4.3 percent

The Egyptian economy grew an annualised 4.3 percent in the third quarter of the current 2008/09 fiscal year, slower than a year earlier, Egypt's cabinet said on Wednesday. For the same quarter last year, the government reported annualised growth of 7.5 percent. Egypt's fiscal year starts on July 1. Growth in the second quarter of the fiscal year - the fourth quarter of 2008 - was an annualised 4.1 percent, according to a statement from the cabinet.
Egypt has said it expects economic growth to slow to between 4 and 4.5 percent in the 2008/09 fiscal year. The economy of the most populous Arab country is reeling under the weight of the global financial crisis, with a decline in revenues from the Suez Canal and tourism. Egypt has said it plans to extend its economic stimulus package into the next financial year, spending another 15 billion pounds on infrastructure in the July-December period.