Egypt’s economic growth rate is expected to reached 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2013/14, compared to just 1 percent in the same period of the previous year, said Minister of Finance Hany Qadry in a statement released on Friday.

The growth rate during the first nine months of the same year (July 2013-March 2014) had slowed to 1.65 percent, compared with 2.31 percent during the same period of the previous year, despitetwo stimulus packages worth up to LE60 billion during the same fiscal year.

Efforts to stimulate the economy through government investments, as well as the return of a measure of politcal stability, are expected to have an impact on fourth quarter growth, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance told Ahram Online.

The 2013/2014 fiscal year saw a rough start, with the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July after mass protests against his rule, and ensuing political and security turmoil.

The Ministry of Finance attributed the sluggish growth in the first nine months of FY 2013/14 to shrinking revenues from tourism and natural gas extraction, which fell by 29 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively compared to the same period a year earlier.

Sectors such as agriculture, wholesale and trade, general government, non-oil manufacturing and construction, which together contribute 57 percent to total real GDP, witnessed growth in the same period.

Growth is also reflected in a 40 percent rise in Egypt’s bourse indices during the same year, said Qadry.

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