Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait revealed that Egypt had achieved an initial budget surplus of 100 million pounds ($6.39 million) in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020-2021, pointing out that “Egypt has prolonged the age of debt to about 3.2 percent during the month of June (June 2013, from 1.3 percent in June 2013, while it is expected to reach 3.8 years by June 2021."
Egypt reduced the expected primary surplus to 1.4 percent of GDP from 2 percent in the fiscal year that ended in June, expecting a further decline to 0.5 percent in 2020-2021 in a letter of intent sent to the International Monetary Fund in last June, noting that COVID-19 pandemic is likely to reduce revenues and increase spending requirements.
Egypt's total budget deficit declined to 7.8 percent of GDP in the fiscal year 2019-2020 from 8.2 percent in the fiscal year 2018-2019. Egypt achieved a primary surplus of 1.8 percent of GDP in the fiscal year ending on June 30, while it was expecting a deficit of 7.2 percent in the fiscal year ending on June 30, before the Coronavirus pandemic hit Egypt's economy hard.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
