Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Ahmed Rostom, reviewed the preliminary performance indicators of the Egyptian economy during the third quarter of fiscal year 2025/2026 at the cabinet’s weekly meeting.

The minister stated that Egypt’s GDP growth rate recorded a preliminary 5% during the third quarter of FY2025/2026, compared to 4.8% during the same period of the previous fiscal year.

He explained that the achieved growth exceeded expectations for the quarter despite the ongoing regional crisis, noting that growth had initially been projected to decline to 4.6% due to geopolitical tensions affecting supply chains and contributing to higher oil prices.

Rostom highlighted strong growth across several non-oil sectors during the quarter, with the Suez Canal recording growth of 23.6%, while the restaurants and hotels sector grew by 8.3%, and the construction sector expanded by 5.6%.

He also confirmed the continued partial recovery of the Suez Canal’s activity, stating that navigation traffic has gradually improved, allowing the canal to maintain positive growth for the third consecutive quarter at 23.6%, despite ongoing regional tensions and disruptions.

The minister further noted that non-oil manufacturing activity continued to achieve positive growth of 2.1%.

 Industrial production, reflected in the manufacturing index, showed strong performance across several subsectors, including wood products, which grew by 60%, motor vehicle manufacturing by 27%, chemical products by 10%, and pharmaceuticals by 8%, while both paper and food industries recorded growth of 4%.

Rostom added that the construction sector rebounded with 5.6% growth during the third quarter after contracting in the previous quarter, driven by continued infrastructure projects and urban expansion.

He pointed to rising iron and cement sales during the quarter compared to the same period last year.

He also noted that international institutions expect strong growth for the construction sector in the coming years.

 According to Fitch Ratings, the sector’s growth is projected to increase from 4.1% in FY2024-2025 to 5.6% in FY2026-2027, and further to 6.6% in FY2027-2028, supported by investments in energy projects, electricity grid modernization, renewable energy expansion, and large-scale industrial and urban development projects.

The minister added that the pace of contraction in the extractive industries sector has slowed amid intensified drilling and exploration programs, which have recently boosted oil and gas production.

He also highlighted the government’s efforts to support foreign partners by securing necessary supply facilitation measures and settling a significant portion of their dues.

 These efforts helped reduce total arrears owed to foreign partners from $6.1 billion at the end of June 2024 to around $700 million, with the government aiming to fully settle all outstanding payments by the end of next June.

In the same context, Rostom noted that numerous oil and gas discoveries announced during March and April are expected to improve production levels and positively impact growth rates in the sector during the fourth quarter of FY2025/2026.