Egypt suffers a loss of $90 mn owing to Internet blockage

LONDON: Egypt has suffered a loss of USD 90 million due to blockage of internet and telecommunication services during the ongoing political unrest, a top economic body said today.

"The Egyptian government's blocking of internet services for five days is likely to have cost the country USD 90 million," the OECD said, quoting preliminary estimates of a study conducted by the Paris-based Science, Technology and Industry division of the top world economic body.

"The blocked services (telecommunication and Internet) account for roughly 3-4 per cent of GDP or a loss of USD 18 million per day," it said.

The OECD also warned that the long-term impact of the disruption in services could be greater as it (government) has cut off domestic and international high-tech firms who provide services globally and will make it much more difficult in the future to attract foreign companies and assure them that the networks will remain reliable.

To date, attracting such firms has been a key strategy of the government, it said in a statement.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is the apex world body to promote and formulate economic policies across the world and has about 34 major economies as its member.