·       4% economic growth rate for Egypt in the current fiscal year compared with an average of 1.6% in emerging markets and developing countries.

Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali, Minister of Finance and the Chairman of the Policy Committee of Finance in the International Monetary Fund send a word of the United Nations Economic and Social Council  (ECO - SOC) confirmed the existence of the deterioration in some social indicators result of the global financial crisis is the high rates of poverty and decline in health and education indicators in the developing countries, especially the poorest.

He pointed out that there are some positive indicators in the world economy, however, the treatment of the negative social consequences of the crisis will take longer than the end of the global crisis and the treatment of economic problems.

He added that the IMF and World Bank were right when their half-year report said that there are "a state of emergency in development," adding that these indicators against the backdrop of global crisis, which caused the downturn in the global economy about 1.3% as expected for the year 2009, as well as contraction of world trade movement between 9 to 13% according to different estimates of the WTO and the IMF and the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Mr. Hani Kadri said that the ability of many developing countries and emerging markets to maintain positive growth rates despite the global financial crisis comes against the background of many of these countries, institutional reform over the past years increased the capacity of institutions and economies to deal with such crises and the extent of absorption of its negative effects.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)