Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Ministry of Finance on Monday revealed that the State General Budget deficit rose 11.3% year-on-year during the first 7 months of the current fiscal year.
The budget deficit reached EGP 2318.1 billion, equivalent to 5.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) during the seven months ending in January 2018, as compared to a deficit of EGP 195.8 billion (5.6% of the GDP) in the comparable period of the last fiscal year, according to the Ministry’s monthly report.
The total revenues reached EGP 353.7 billion, 8.3% of the GDP, while the total expenses recorded EGP 570 billion, 13.3% of the GDP, the report added.
The Ministry estimated the total target deficit to increase by EGP 7.5 billion to EGP 438.6 billion in FY2018-2019, equivalent of 8.4% of the GDP, from the estimate of EGP 430.8 billion in FY2017-2018.
The estimate of the total deficit as a percentage of the GDP rose to 10.2%, versus the initial estimate of 9.8% in the beginning of the fiscal year, Amr El-Garhy, Minister of finance, had said earlier.
