By Ahmed Allam and El-Sayed Solyman

Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's imports have declined by EGP 7 billion since the beginning of 2016, said Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Qabil on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, exports increased by EGP 1 billion roughly during the same period, Qabil added on the sidelines of the Euromoney Egypt Conference 2016.

The minister revealed no further details about the comparable figures of the year-ago period, assuring that the government seeks to accelerate the country's economic growth by 8% per annum.

Earlier, the government announced that exports rose in the first four months of 2016 by 1.5% to $6.5 billion, while imports declined 22.6% to $12.8 billion.  

Further, the Ministry of Planning said Egypt's economy grew by 3.6% in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2015/16, compared with 3.3% for the year-ago period.