Egypt’s economic growth rate in the second quarter of the 2012/13 fiscal year stood at 2.2 percent, representing a 15.3 percent decrease on the previous quarter, the Egyptian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation declared in a Thursday statement.
On an annual basis, however, Egypt's economic growth rate increased by 4.5 percent in the second quarter of the 2012/13 fiscal year compared to the corresponding quarter the previous fiscal year.
The statement added that the country's reduced growth rate during last year's October-December period was linked to "security and political tensions" in Egypt.
Egypt was swept by anti-government protests in November after President Mohamed Morsi issued a controversial decree that critics claimed gave him unchecked powers.
The first half of fiscal year 2012/13 (July-December) saw economic growth of 2.4 percent, which had been 0.1 percent lower than expected.
Gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices, meanwhile, shrunk from LE445.8 billion in the first quarter of 2012/13 to LE421.2 billion in the second quarter. GDP rose by 11.2 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period in 2011/12, to reach LE867 billion.
Total investment rose by 13.7 percent to LE62.3 billion in the October-December period of 2012/13, up from LE49.3 billion in the previous quarter. Year-on-year, however, total investment fell by 6.7 percent.
Revenue from Egypt's strategic Suez Canal sector, meanwhile, fell in the first half of 2012/13, when it recorded $2.6 billion, representing a 3.6 percent decrease on the same period the previous fiscal year.
