budget deficit
Maait elaborated that Egypt’s budget deficit recorded its highest rate during the period between 1980 to 1985, reaching 13.8 percent, before it started to decline to range from 4.4 percent to 6 percent.
Maait added Monday during a conference to review the financial performance indicators for the current fiscal year budget (2022/2023) that the unemployment rate fell to 7.2 percent in June 2022 by providing 826,000 jobs.
The Ministry of Finance stated, in a report, Monday, that the primary surplus amounted to about LE 71.9 billion, or 0.91 percent of the GDP during 11 months.
The draft revealed the state’s aim to achieve a primary budget surplus of 1.5 percent of GDP during the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
Tax revenue also increased by 12.8 percent, in addition to maintaining the budget's achievement of a primary surplus, according to Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait.
Expenditure on subsidizing food commodities rose to LE 83 billion, compared to LE 80.4 billion in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, with an increase of 3.2 percent, and actual spending on the social protection sector increased by 16.5 percent over the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
The ministry stated that public revenues surged by 9.2 percent from July 2021 to February 2022 to record LE 683.3 billion against LE 625.5 billion in the same period a year earlier.
According to the monthly finance report, the budget deficit rose to 3.1 percent as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 2.6 percent of GDP during the same period of 2020/2021.
In a statement on Thursday, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said the ministry issued a financial performance assessment report of the first six months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
Total revenues rose by 18.4 percent to record LE 204.7 billion in July – September period of 2020/2021, compared to LE 172.9 billion during the same period of the previous fiscal year.
In the coming years, the government aims to continue slashing the debt of the State's general budget bodies from 87 percent of GDP in June 2020 to about 77 percent of GDP by June 2024, it said.
This came during a cabinet meeting that was held via the video conference to discuss the initial estimations of the financial performance of the 2019-20 fiscal year.
The ministry seeks to increase the tax revenues to hit LE 1.059 billion and decrease interests to reach LE 528.9 billion.
Ma’it added that the budget project for the coming fiscal year 2020/2021 was expected to achieve an initial surplus of 2 percent, but that after the occurrence of the corona virus crisis, this surplus is expected to drop to only 0.6 percent.
The budget’s current deficit accounts for 4.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), against 4.1 percent last year, the ministry added.
Ma’it added that it’s expected to achieve a budget deficit of 7.2 percent in the current fiscal year, compared to around 13 percent 3 years ago.
Sisi urged carrying out reforms in order to enhance confidence in the Egyptian economy.
Egypt targets to reduce the budget deficit to 7.2 percent during 2019/2020, and to raise the growth rate to 6.1 percent, Minister of Finance Mohamed Ma’it said.
The ministry said revenues rose by 29 percent to hit LE 456.5 billion against LE 353.7 billion during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, is scheduled to issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth LE 17 billion on Sunday, Feb.17.
