Egypt ranks 19 among world’s 21 most powerful economies in 2030: PwC report

The Egyptian pound dropped again against the dollar on the black market on 21 July 2016, extending its recent decline despite central bank efforts to close the gap between demand and supply in the dollar-starved economy. Egypt, which relies heavily on imports, is facing a shortage in foreign currency inflows after a 2011 uprising drove tourists and foreign investors away, causing the country's reserves to tumble to $16.56 billion from $36 billion. A black market for dollars has sucked up liquidity from the banking system while the central bank kept the pound artificially strong and rationed dollars through weekly auctions, putting a strain on foreign reserves. (Photo by Fayed El-Geziry /NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Egypt was ranked the 19^th most powerful economy out of a list of the world’s 21 most powerful economies in 2030, according to a report published by global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The report said that emerging markets will start to dominate rankings of the world’s top economies by 2030.

The spot comes based on the country’s expected global gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity (PPP), a macroeconomic analysis used to determine the economic productivity and standards of living between countries across time.

The report placed Egypt in 19th place, with a projected GDP of $2.049 trillion. It was directly preceded by Canada, in 18th place, with $2.141 trillion and Spain with $2.159 trillion.

The report said that emerging markets such as India and Brazil are set to challenge the economic dominance of the US and China.

The top five economies in 2030 according to the report are: China, with a projected GDP of $38.008 trillion, the US ($23.475 trillion), India ($19.511 trillion), Japan ($5.606 trillion) and Indonesia ($5.424 trillion).

Egypt embarked on an ambitious economic reform program in 2014 to revive its economy, battered by years of political unrest.

Though the program is causing social pressures in the short term, it is said to place Egypt on the right path for economic growth.

You can check out the full report published here.