Mubasher TV
Contact Us Advertising   العربية

Egypt’s budget deficit up 7% in 9M

Egypt’s budget deficit up 7% in 9M
The Egyptian Ministry of Finance - (Photo Credit: Arabianeye-Reuters)

Cairo - Mubasher: The Egyptian Ministry of Finance (MoF) reported an increase in the total budget deficit during the first nine months of fiscal year 2016-2017 by 7.2%.

The ministry said in a statement on Monday that the deficit reached EGP 273.3 billion by the end of March compared to EGP 254.9 billion for the same period last year.

The deficit ratio to the gross domestic product (GDP) decreased to 8% during the nine-month period, from a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 9.4% in the corresponding period in FY15/16.

Public revenues grew 25% to EGP 363.7 billion from EGP 291.1 billion in the same period the year before, while expenditure rose from EGP 533.3 billion to EGP 631.4 billion.

The MoF previously said that the general budget deficit declined to 7% year-on-year between July 2016 and February 2017.

Egypt targets lowering the deficit to 9% of the GDP in the upcoming fiscal year, compared to expectations of 10.5% to 10.8% in FY16/17.

Recently, Egypt began an economic reform programme that included floating the local currency last November, as well as reducing energy subsidise, and introducing the value-added tax (VAT).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently approved a three-year $12 billion loan deal with Egypt.