Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian government is looking to develop a new strategy to support the country’s general revenues and cut the budget deficit to 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) within three to four years, versus a target of 8.4% for fiscal year 2018/2019 budget.
The government is likely to net over EGP 1 trillion in tax proceeds in the coming years while introducing the new strategy, a government source told Enterprise.
Tax revenues will rise within the framework of the new strategy, in addition to a plan for boosting the efficiency of tax collection gradually to reach 18% to 20% of GDP, compared to 14.6% now, the source highlighted.
The source added that raising tax collection will be based on the amendment of a large number of current tax legislation in a bid to reduce gaps to cope with global tax systems to encourage investment and boost profits of firms, which will cut tax evasion rates for multinational companies.
The financial indicators of the North African’s general budget revealed achieving EGP 20.8 billion in a primary surplus in the first six months of this fiscal year, against a 0.3% initial deficit in the year-ago period.
Egypt’s budget deficit rates improved remarkably last year and fell to 3.6% of GDP, compared to 4.2% in 2017, adding that deficit rate amounted to 5.3% of GDP in the past three years.
