Budget deficit climbs to LE 85.3B in Q1 of FY 2017/18

CAIRO – 6 December 2017: Egypt’s budget deficit in the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal year 2017/18 stood at LE 85.3 billion ($4.8 billion), which is around 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy disclosed Wednesday.

This is compared to LE 76.8 billion in the corresponding quarter last year (2.2 percent of GDP).

In a Wednesday statement, Garhy said that state revenues recorded LE 129 billion (3 percent of GDP) compared to LE 96.8 billion in Q1 FY 2016/17.

As for expenditures, it registered LE 214.1 billion (5 percent of GDP) compared to LE 172.2 billion in the same period last year.

The budget deficit is expected to stand at LE 322 billion by the end of FY 2017/18, to be filled by treasury bills and bonds issued by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and through Arab and foreign loans and grants.

Egypt’s primary deficit, which is the difference between spending and revenues, in the budget stood at 0.2 percent of GDP in Q1 of FY 2017/18, compared to 0.6 percent in Q1 of FY 2016/2017, Deputy Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies Ahmed Khouchouk said last month.

The government is currently undertaking a reform program to rationalize public expenditures and redirect these funds to the budget deficit, social safety programs, development of human resources and improving infrastructure.