CAIRO, May 28 (Reuters) - Egypt's economy grew 4.5 percent in first half of 2015/2016 fiscal year, down from 5.5 percent growth in the previous year, the country's planning minister said on Saturday.

Total GDP for first half of fiscal year 2015/2016 was 1.4 trillion Egyptian pounds ($158 billion) in the first half compared with 1.275 trillion pounds in the same period last year, the minister said.

Second quarter growth for 2015/2016 was 3.8 percent from 4.3 percent a year earlier, planning minister Ashraf al-Arabi told a press conference.





($1 = 8.8799 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Amina Ismail; Editing by David Evans) ((amina.ismail@thomsonreuters.com; +20 2 2394 8114;))