Cairo – Mubasher: The thriving growth in Egypt’s natural gas production is likely to accelerate the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2.8% over the next three years, according to a recent report by Capital Economics on Tuesday.
The GDP is projected to rise, particularly if the government of the North African nation has been able to convince Italy’s Eni to raise gas production in 2019/2020, the report added.
The Arab world's most populous country is expected to become a key source of natural gas this year for the first time since 2014, the report indicated.
The continuous rising population increases the domestic energy consumption, which could make Egypt a gas importer again in less than five years, the report highlighted, adding that the government should make efforts to lure more investments to the gas sector.
The economic research consultancy also noted that any increase in gas output would diminish electricity shortage, in addition to controlling budget deficit over the few next years.
The value of gas exports are forecast to account for 5% of GDP, in line with the government tendency to meet the local market demand from supergiant Zohr gas field and liberalise the other fields’ production for export, the company added.
Boosting gas output in Egypt could solidify the local currency, reduce inflation rate, give the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) the opportunity to cut interest rates, the report continued.
