CAIRO - 27 March 2024: The Cabinet approved the draft budget for the fiscal year 2025/2024, as well as the budgets of public economic entities, with total expenditures of LE 6.4 trillion and revenues of LE 5.05 trillion.
This approval comes ahead of sending the budget to the House of Representatives within the constitutional deadline at the end of this month.
"For the first time, the government's general budget will be presented to the House of Representatives, with the inclusion of the 'general budget of the state administrative apparatus and all economic bodies' next Sunday," Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, said.
The total expenses of the general government amount to LE 6.4 trillion, while its revenues reach LE 5.05 trillion, reflecting the structural reforms introduced by the recent amendment to the Unified Public Finance Law, which introduced the concept of the 'general government budget.'
"We aim to achieve a significant initial surplus of more than 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), reduce the total deficit to 6 percent in the medium term, and put the debt-to-GDP ratio on a downward path to reach 80 percent by June 2027," the finance minister said.
“This is done through a new strategy that includes setting a legal ceiling for the 'general government' debt that cannot be exceeded without the approval of the President and the Cabinet, in addition to directing half of the revenues of the 'offerings' program to directly reduce the government debt, while also working to extend the debt maturity,” he added.
Maait explained that a ceiling has been set for the total public investments of the state, including all its bodies and entities, not exceeding one trillion pounds in the next fiscal year, to provide the private sector with an environment consistent with the state's efforts aimed at increasing the contributions of this important sector in the developmental economic activity.
The growth rate of the general state budget's revenues during the new fiscal year hits 36 percent to reach LE 2.6 trillion, while the growth rate of expenses records 29 percent to reach LE 3.9 trillion.
Allocations for the health and education sectors have increased by more than 30 percent, while allocations for subsidies, grants, and social benefits have increased to reach LE 636 billion, including LE 144 billion for food subsidies and LE 154 billion for petroleum products, according to the Cabinet statement.
Additionally, LE 215 billion has been allocated for pensions, LE 23 billion for export support, and LE 40 billion for the 'Takaful and Karama' program.
Maait stated that the government aims to increase non-tax revenues by 60 percent and tax revenues by 30 percent, without imposing any tax burdens on citizens or investors, by expanding the tax base through maximizing the optimal utilization of electronic tax systems in integrating the informal economy into the formal economy.
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