Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s telecommunications sector grew 17.4% in the first half of its fiscal year, data released on Monday showed.

The sector attracted foreign direct investments (FDI) worth $63.8 million between July and December 2018, while revenues amounted to $572 million, the government said in a report it submitted to the Egyptian Parliament, noting that revenues came from the development of the sector’s infrastructure.

The report also indicated that the Egyptian economy had grown by 5.4% during the first six months of the fiscal year 2018/2019, a growth level that is much higher than neighbouring emerging and developing countries.

The economic growth came on the back of gains across all Egyptian sectors, with tourism, gas, telecommunications, construction, and the Suez Canal taking the lead.

Investments and net exports contributed around 70% of the growth achieved in the first half of the fiscal year 2018/2019, the government said.

The Suez Canal registered EGP 51.8 billion ($2.98 billion) in revenues in the July-to-December period of 2018, the data indicated.