Moody’s Investors Service expects Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to accelerate from 4.2% in 2017 to around 5% by 2019 and 5.5% by 2021, up from 4.2% in 2017, Invest-Gate reports.

The forecast for GDP growth in Egypt comes “as structural reforms support more broad-based activity compared to the mostly consumption-driven pre-reform growth model,” Moody’s notes.

Egypt had revised its GDP growth forecast to 5.3-5.5% for the fiscal year 2017/18, from a previous 4.8%, Egypt’s Planning Ministry announced earlier.

Moody’s forecast was part of an announcement of a stable outlook for the Levant and North Africa in 2018 on the back of improving growth that “offsets persistent fiscal and political risks.”

“High debt levels, low debt affordability, large funding needs and relatively high debt roll-over rates increase Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan’s exposure to a sharper-than-expected rise in interest rates,” the agency adds.

“Fiscal consolidation will be more challenging for Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon,” Moody’s notes.