The Egyptian economy grew at a 6.6% clip in FY 2021-2022, up from 3.3% the previous year, according to initial figures announced by Planning Minister Hala El Said during a cabinet meeting on Thursday. The state’s fiscal year runs 1 July-30 June.

The economy grew faster last year than gov’t was expecting: El Said last month told CNBC Arabia that the Egyptian economy grew 6.2% in FY 2021-2022. The original forecast in the 2021-2022 budget had penciled in 5.4% growth for the fiscal year.

The hospitality sector roared back after covid: Hotels and restaurants registered growth of 45.5% y-o-y in FY 2021-2022 — the highest of any sector — as tourism rebounded from its pandemic lows. Growth was also driven by telecoms (+16.3%), Suez Canal revenues (+11.7%) and manufacturing (+9.9%). Construction, health, and education also registered clear growth, she said, without disclosing the figures.

Figures for the final quarter of 2021-2022 weren’t as rosy (no surprise there): Annual GDP growth came in at 3.2% in 4Q 2021-2022, down from 7.7% during the same period last year. The April-June period coincided with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising US interest rates, and imported inflation put pressure on the EGP and spurred further contraction in the private sector.

The government sees the economy growing 5.5% in FY 2022-2023, having recently trimmed its GDP forecast by 0.2 percentage points. The IMF thinks we’ll do a bit better, saying it sees us growing at a 5.9% clip in the same period and then 4.8% in 2023.

Taking note of the story: Reuters.