Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian said Egypt received $10.6 billion in aid from Gulf states in the last fiscal year, according to Reuters.
Of about EGP 74 billion of aid received in the 2013-14 fiscal year, EGP 53 billion was in the form of petroleum products, with the remaining EGP 21 billion coming as cash grants, Kadry told a news conference.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have provided Egypt with political and economic support since then-army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ousted elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July last year and led a crackdown on his supporters.
The minister said that the budget deficit in the fiscal year ending on 31 June 2014 did not achieve its initial target as plans for fiscal consolidation did not materialize. Revenues amounted to EGP 456 billion, 24% lower than budgeted, due to overestimates based on unattained procedures, mainly subsidy cuts and tax reform, the minister noted, adding that this was overcome by Gulf aid.
An Egyptian government source told Reuters on Thursday that Cairo had received earlier in the week a $1 billion grant from Kuwait, the latest in billions of dollars of aid to arrive from Gulf Arab allies since Mursi's removal.
Kadry said earlier that his country is suffering a financing gap reaching $11 billion during the current fiscal year.
El-Sisi's government has started implementing politically sensitive economic reforms such as slashing energy subsidies and raising taxes in a bid to narrow the budget deficit and gain the confidence of foreign investors.
Of about EGP 74 billion of aid received in the 2013-14 fiscal year, EGP 53 billion was in the form of petroleum products, with the remaining EGP 21 billion coming as cash grants, Kadry told a news conference.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have provided Egypt with political and economic support since then-army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ousted elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July last year and led a crackdown on his supporters.
The minister said that the budget deficit in the fiscal year ending on 31 June 2014 did not achieve its initial target as plans for fiscal consolidation did not materialize. Revenues amounted to EGP 456 billion, 24% lower than budgeted, due to overestimates based on unattained procedures, mainly subsidy cuts and tax reform, the minister noted, adding that this was overcome by Gulf aid.
An Egyptian government source told Reuters on Thursday that Cairo had received earlier in the week a $1 billion grant from Kuwait, the latest in billions of dollars of aid to arrive from Gulf Arab allies since Mursi's removal.
Kadry said earlier that his country is suffering a financing gap reaching $11 billion during the current fiscal year.
El-Sisi's government has started implementing politically sensitive economic reforms such as slashing energy subsidies and raising taxes in a bid to narrow the budget deficit and gain the confidence of foreign investors.
Source:
Mubasher
