Country Analysis Project (CAP) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Country Analysis Project (CAP) - Research Paper Example This led to massive climate changes over time because of overgrazing which desiccated the land and led to the encroachment of the Sahara desert. This led to massive migration and settlement along the fertile Nile valleys and formed a more centralized society. In the Nile valley, a Neolithic culture rooted by 6000BC. In this era, there was development of several dynastic cultures in the upper and the lower Nile. The lower Egyptian communities coexisted with the southern communities for over 2000 years, but remained distinct culturally and at the same time, retained close trade contact. According to the CIA World Fact Book, Egypt is one of the world’s earliest civilizations. This is because of the richness in the regular Nile river floods, plus the partial segregation that the desert provides to the east and west. In 341 BC, the last native dynasty ruled over Egypt but fell under the Persians, who were later toppled by the Greeks and Romans. From the seventh century BC, the Arab s ruled Egypt for six centuries. A local military social group, the Mamluks, took control and continued to rule after the invasion of Egypt in 1517 by the Ottoman Turks. The completion of the Suez Canal made Egypt an important global transportation hub, though it was also in massive debt. To protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt in1882, though nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire went on until 1914. By 1922, Egypt was partially independent from the United Kingdom. It got full sovereignty in 1952 after overthrowing a British backed monarchy (Stannard, p. 112). Egypt’s economic assessment The economy of this country relies mostly on agriculture, petroleum exports, media and tourism. Since 1979, the United States foreign aid has granted Egypt an average of 2.2 billion dollars per year, making it the third largest recipient of foreign funding. The government has invested heavily in physical structures and communications. However, the largest revenue source is tourist and partly traffic. Economic growth Before the 2011 uprising in Egypt, the country was enjoying a rising GDP acceleration, which reached a height of 7.1 % in 2006/2007. This was from rise in both public and private investment, with a continued, substantive economic investment. However, labor productivity continues to show sluggish growth, which presents a potential harm to the gross domestic growth. Poverty Though there are low incidences of extreme poverty, a whopping 43.9% of the total population leaves under ?2 per day. With this, it has an enormous challenge of transforming growth to poverty eradication. Reforms will aim at development of human capital, creation of jobs and productivity. Economic structure In Egypt, the largest economic sector of both labor force and output is in services. Industrial activities propel growth in revenue. At the second position is agriculture as a source of employment, though has the least output. For future growth, creation of jobs is imperative, especially in the industrial sector and increasing agricultural and services productivity for long term economic structural transformation (Rotberg, p. 79). Fiscal and monetary policy Between 2002/2003 and 2006/2007, Egypt’s budget deficit fell from 9.0% of their GDP to 7.7%. This is because the government lowered subsidies on fuel and held back wage growth. Interest payment and subsidy depress the government’s capital spending. Rapid supply and money growth continue to drive up inflation rates (Rotberg,