Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait pointed out that "the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2020-2021 witnessed a decline in the value of the total deficit from 4.6 percent to 4.4 percent, compared to the same period last fiscal year."
The fiscal year in Egypt begins at the beginning of July of each year and ends at the end of June of the following year.
During the presentation of the financial situation of the general budget in a meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Maait confirmed that "the budget achieved an initial surplus of about 18.1 billion pounds (1.15 billion dollars), state revenues registered a 16 percent increase year-on-year, compared to a deficit of 115 billion pounds in tax revenues in the previous fiscal year, due to the economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Expenses rose by 12.4 percent, and spending on social protection programs increased by 24 percent, at a value of EGP 114 billion.
"The rates and volume of government investments in infrastructure and services increased by about 23 percent, at a value of 392 billion pounds, as well as an increase in spending on social protection programs by 24 percent, at a value of 114 billion pounds." Maait said.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
