A statement released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) indicates Egypt’s spending on construction projects marked a 5.14% drop in the 2013/2013 fiscal year.
CAPMAS noted that the figure fell from EGP 14.78bn (US$2bn) in 2011/2012 to EGP 14.02bn (US$1.9bn) for the 2012/2013 fiscal year.
The agency cited an unstable economic scene and consequent decline in construction projects as reason for the decline. Total spending on construction of residential buildings reached EGP 847m (US$118m) for 2012/2013 compared to EGP 970m (US$135.7m) the year before, registering a decrease of 12.60%.
Spending on constructing healthcare buildings reached EGP 222m (US$31m) in the year 2012/2013, compared to EGP 289m (US$40.4m) in 2011/2012, registering 23.17% decline.
A decrease of 1.46% was recorded in the construction of the water stations and networks by public sector companies/public businesses. Expenditures reached EGP 3.20bn (US$447.7m) in 2012/2013 in comparison with EGP 3.25bn (US$454.7m) in 2011/2012.
The expenses on electricity stations, networks and transformers projects reached EGP 441m (US$62m) in 2012/2013, compared to EGP 458m (US$64m) in 2011/2012, marking a decrease of 3.71%.
According to the CEO of the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors (EFCBC), Hassan Abdelaziz, the current situation may be worse than that. He added that construction companies are operating in Egypt at only 60% capacity.
Abdelaziz noted that this would affect unemployment, with a rising number of job losses which would hit the public sector harder than the private sector. He mentioned that the project to build 1m residential units announced last March, to be implemented by the armed forces and Emirati construction company Arabtec, and other low-income residential units might mitigate the effect of the problem.
Egyptians went to the polls Monday, to vote for a new president after years of turmoil that has crippled the economy. Ex-army chief who deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi is expected to win in a landslide.
