Egyptian economy to grow 6% this year, driven by infrastructure projects, says Beltone: The Egyptian economy is expected to grow at a 6% clip this year, with the expansion of GDP largely driven by major infrastructure projects, Beltone Financial’s sector head of financial services, Nancy Fahmy, told Bloomberg TV (watch, runtime: 5:26). According to Fahmy, the research house sees inflationary pressures persisting throughout the year due to the fourth round of subsidy cuts and the potential indexation of oil products according to global prices. Inflation is expected to gradually decelerate to reach 17% towards the end of the year, she said, noting that the slow reduction of inflation is expected to result in a slower pace of monetary easing. The CBE is unlikely to cut interest rates until 4Q2019, according to Fahmy.

Which industries to watch (and avoid) this year: Beltone sees a fair share of “uncertainty” in the real estate and banking sectors this year, but views the healthcare and consumer sectors positively. Fahmy noted that shares of Ibnsina, Integrated Diagnostics Holding (IDH), and GB Auto are all expected to perform well this year. GB Auto and Ibnsina both trade on the EGX, while IDH (the company that owns Al Borg and Al Mokhtabar labs in Egypt as well as operations in Jordan, Sudan and Nigeria) trades on the London Stock Exchange.