Reaping the rewards of Egypt's reforms

Soaring natural gas production and a tourism revival paint a positive economic picture for Egypt

The Egyptian government is looking to 2019 as the year in which it will start to realise clear dividends from previously-enacted economic reforms. These have included changes to the petroleum regime that are already yielding benefits in the form of a rapid ramp-up in natural gas production. On the political front, one of the key issues will be whether President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi prepares the ground to extend his mandate beyond 2022, when his second, and supposedly final, term is scheduled to end. The $12bn IMF programme that commenced in November 2016 is now in its final year. The main elements have been putting in place a flexible exchange rate system, bringing down the fiscal deficit th