Egypt may have weathered the global downturn better than others in its neighborhood, but officials and analysts say there is no room for complacency. More reform is needed if the country is serious ab...

Egypt may have weathered the global downturn better than others in its neighborhood, but officials and analysts say there is no room for complacency. More reform is needed if the country is serious about achieving the sustained high levels of growth needed to address poverty and unemployment. Reforms since 2004, coupled with buoyant domestic demand in this nation of 80m people, have helped drive growth to 5.3% in the financial year to June, up from 4.7% the year before. Forecasts for growth in 2010-2011 are between 5.7 and 6% . Exports and private investment have been recovering. The fuel subsidy, argues the IMF, has the impact of "crowding out priority spending on social and infrastructure needs". It says that in 2009, fuel prices were 30 to 75% lower than international prices. (Source: Financial Times)