Budget deficit grows during first 2M of FY2023/2024, Finance Ministry

Cairo – November 13, 2023: In its latest report, the Ministry of Finance revealed that the budget deficit widened to 3.2 percent of GDP in the first two months of FY2023/2024 to around $12.4 billion, up from 1.4 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Government expenditures increased by 92 percent on an annual basis to LE 590.7 billion.

Total revenues were up by 28 percent annually compared to the first two months of FY2022/2023, hitting LE 206,88 billion.

Tax revenues grew by 29 percent on an annual basis to LE 172.5 billion, forming 83.3 percent of total revenues.

Egypt’s external debt saw a slight drop, declining to $164.73 billion during Q4 of FY2022/2023 from $165.36 billion in the earlier quarter.

Egypt’s debt-to-GDP ratio hit 95.6 percent in FY2022/2023, with the GDP recording LE 9.8 trillion ($318,23 billion).

The budget deficit accounted for 6.1 percent of Egypt’s GDP in FY2022/2023, despite this, the government was able to achieve an $882 million surplus in its Balance of Payment (BoP) in the same year.

The government increased its budget deficit estimate to 6.9 percent of GDP for FY2023/2024, which started on July 1st, as the local economy continues to deal with the repercussions of back-to-back economic and geopolitical events.