Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Friday said that the general budget deficit reached 9.2% during the period from July 2015 till March 2016.

The deficit amounted to EGP 254.9 billion or 9.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to EGP 218.3 billion or 9% of GDP in the same period the year before.

General revenues during the nine-month period grew 3.2% to EGP 291.1 billion from EGP 282.1 billion in the previous fiscal year, the MoF said in a statement published on its official website.

The report attributed revenue growth to an increase in tax revenue by 3.7% or EGP 7.5 billion to EGP 212.4 billion from EGP 204.9 billion in the period ended March 2015. Furthermore, non-tax revenues were up by around EGP 1.5 billion.

Expenses grew 8.7% to EGP 533.3 billion in the period ended March 2016, from EGP 490.6 billion in the previous corresponding period.

The minister of finance previously said that Egypt's budget deficit in the draft budget for 2016-2017 will reach EGP 319.4 billion, representing 9.8% of GDP.