How Trump's economic policies could hurt Egypt
In a time of global economic uncertainty, Egypt is worried about how US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement will affect the Suez Canal.
CAIRO — The World Bank's global growth forecast for 2017 has something for everyone — from doubt, to caution, to cautious optimism. And while not mentioning US President Donald Trump by name, the report makes it clear his policies could change things considerably for much of the world, including Egypt, for better or for worse.
On Jan. 10, the bank slightly downgraded its 2017 global growth forecast from the 2.8% predicted in June 2016 to 2.7%. Yet the predicted growth is still an improvement over last year's 2.3% and is equal to 2015's.
According to the World Bank, the new US administration and Britain's pending exit from the European Union are responsible for much of the suspense.
“Lingering uncertainty about the course of US economic policy could have a significantly negative effect on global growth prospects,” the report said. The same uncertainty could be why the bank trimmed Egypt’s real gross domestic product growth to 4% this year from 4.3% in 2016.
