CAIRO, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's economic growth rate hit 5.6 percent in the fiscal year 2018-19 that starts in July and ends in June, making it one of the best growing economies in emerging markets, said Finance Minister Mohamed Maait on Monday.

"The current economic growth is prompted by the increase of investments and exports," Maat said at an Euromoney conference, according to official news agency MENA.

He attributed the rise of the growth rate to a decline in the unemployment rate to 7.5 percent in June of 2019.

He said the budget deficit hit 8.2 percent of the GDP compared to 16.5 percent in 2013-14, expecting it to continue to decrease to reach 7.2 percent in 2019-2020.

He also added other indicators for economic improvement like public debt that has declined to 90.2 percent in June of 2019 compared to 107 percent in 2016-17.

He expected it will further decline to reach 83 percent in 2020.

Egypt has been experiencing strict three-year economic reform program since late 2016.