The finance agency believes that Egypt's high economic growth rates have contributed to an 8% reduction in unemployment rates during the last quarter of 2019. This means Egypt is now nearing the lowest unemployment levels in decades, enhancing Egypt's ability to absorb the shock caused by the coronavirus. Moody's projects that inflation at the end of June will record 8.5%. Moody's highlighted the preventive measures the Egyptian government was quick to take against the spread of the coronavirus, to protect the lives and safety of citizens. Moody's warned that the economic consequences of the coronavirus may be more clearly evident during the FY 2020/21. It expects a decrease in economic growth to 2.7% if the virus continues to disrupt the tourism, investment and commercial sectors. It pointed out the decline in public debt to 84.2% of GDP at the end of last year, compared to 103.5% at the end of 2017. Moody's expects that debt ratios will continue to decline due to the economic shock of the coronavirus.