Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt has commenced implementing its state budget for fiscal year (FY) 2018/2019, which amounted to EGP 1.42 trillion as of Sunday, 1 July, marking the largest budget in its history.
The new budget witnessed an expenditure increase to EGP 200 billion, compared to FY 17/18 budget, according to the finance ministry’s statement.
The ministry attributed the growth of outlays to the hike of allocations in some social programmes, including the public servants' wages, which levelled up by EGP 30 billion to EGP 720 billion, in addition to the rise of government investments, which are 42% financed by the state treasury, to register EGP 100 billion in FY 18/19 budget.
Finance minister Mohamed Maait stressed that the ministry has taken all the arrangements to put the new state budget into effect, coinciding with the beginning of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s second term.
FY 18/19 budget reflects the government’s plan to raise the North African nation’s economic growth to 5.8% in the current fiscal year and to 6.5% -7% over the medium-term in a bid to rein in inflation rate and cut to 10%, Maait noted.
