A summary of last week’s major macroeconomic updates and indicators brought to you on one page for your convenience.

April 7 to April 13 Coverage:

CAPMAS reported that the annual inflation rate recorded 4.6% in March compared to 13.8% for the same month in 2019.

3.625 million patients were treated at the expense of the state at a cost of EGP 10.375 billion in 2019, a 23.4% increase in treatment cost from 2018’s EGP 8.410 billion for 2.632 million patients, according to CAPMAS.

MPED allocated EGP 3.8 billion towards the health sector in March 2020 in order to face COVID-19.

The tourism sector’s growth rate is expected to reach 2% in Q4 2020 if the market improved amid the COVID-19 crisis, however, the worst-case scenario could lead to a growth rate of about 1%, according to MPED.

Alexandria Customs Authority collected EGP 3.3 billion of total taxes and customs duties in March 2020, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance reported that the total taxes and customs duties collected on certificates received at Alexandria Customs Department amounted to EGP 550.809 million, while the total value-added taxes and other fees collected on these certificates amounted to EGP 2.809 billion.

The Ministry of Finance will drop the real estate taxes on hotel and tourist establishments for six months, in addition to delaying the payment of all their arrears for three months without fines or penalty interest.

Ministry of Finance will spend 30% of the exporters’ arrears to the Export Support Fund with a minimum of EGP 5 million.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation invested EGP 218 million to raise the efficiency of the High Dam and Aswan Reservoir during the first nine months of FY 2019/20, Al Borsa reported.

The World Bank reduced its forecast of Egypt’s economic growth rate to record 3.7% in FY 2019/20, expecting it to rise to 3.8% in FY 2020/21 and to 5.8% FY 2021/22, showing a decline of 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively from last October’s forecast, according to Al Borsa.

Banque Du Caire allocated EGP 40 million towards the national initiative launched by the Federation of Egyptian Banks in collaboration with the CBE, against COVID-19 economic repercussions, according to Al Ahram.

The Ministry of Finance will provide EGP 500 in monthly grants for irregular workers affected by COVID-19 for three months, according to Al Ahram.

Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, said in an interview with Al Arabiya that state revenues are expected to fall by 25% or more.