Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s budget posted a primary surplus of EGP 25 billion during the first nine months of fiscal year (FY) 2020/2021 thanks to the economic reforms implemented by the government, the Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, announced.
Despite the negative implications of the pandemic, Egypt provided the required financing for supporting the most vulnerable sectors, meeting the needs of the healthcare sector, increasing government investments, and paying the dues for the social insurance and pension fund, he noted in a statement on Tuesday.
The country’s revenues rose by 14.6% year-on-year (YoY) in the nine-month period ended 31 March, while the expenditures grew by 11.2% in the same period.
Tax revenues
Tax revenues increased by 13.5% with tax revenues from non-sovereign entities rising by EGP 43.1 billion or 10.4% YoY and tax revenues from sovereign entities growing by EGP 20.6 billion or 33% on an annual basis.
Social benefits
The State Treasury transferred a total of EGP 132.5 billion to the social insurance and pension fund during the first nine months of FY20/21.
The Egyptian government also spent EGP 388.5 billion on social protection programmes from July 2020 to March 2021, a 17.1% increase from the corresponding period a year earlier.
A total of EGP 45.7 billion were spent to subsidise strategic commodities and EGP 12.9 billion were allocated for social security pensions and Takaful and Karama cash assistance.
Spending on education and health sectors
Public expenditures on education and health sectors reached EGP 181.5 billion during the first nine months of FY20/21.
Spending on the health sector grew by 15.5% YoY to EGP 68.3 billion, including EGP 34.1 billion for staff wages and benefits and EGP 13.4 billion for investments.
In addition, the government spent EGP 113.2 billion on the education sector, recording an annual increase of 10.1%, including EGP 83 billion for wages and benefits and EGP 20.3 billion for investments.
Government investments
Total government investments injected by the Ministry of Finance during the nine-month period ended 31 March surged by 72.3% YoY to EGP 194.7 billion.
Financial provisions allocated to finance government investments rose by 45% to EGP 163.7 billion.
The ministry provided an additional amount of EGP 31 billion to finance investment plans for several government entities.
Total investments financed by the Treasury increased by 29% to EGP 115 billion.
Export subsidies
The government paid EGP 3.2 billion in export subsidies, recording a 19% annual increase, to help exporters boost their production and improve their competitiveness in international markets.
Debt maturity
The ministry managed to extend its average debt maturity to 3.2 years in June 2020, compared to 1.3 years in June 2013 and 1.8 years in June 2014.
It aims to further extend its debt maturity to 3.6-3.8 years by the end of June 2021.
