Egypt’s new budget under the microscope

CAIRO – 19 March 2018: Egypt awaits President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s approval of the budget for the upcoming 2018/2019 fiscal year after it was discussed by the Cabinet on Sunday.

Egypt’s fiscal years starts on July 1 and lasts until June 30 of the following year.

According to numbers, the 2018/2019 budget is considered to be the largest budget Egypt has ever witnessed in its history.

Egypt Today summarizes the most important numbers of the upcoming budget:

The new budget targets achieving revenues of LE 980 billion ($55.64 billion) in 2018/2019, with expenditures to reach LE 1.4 trillion.

Data showed that taxes and tariff yields will contribute LE 760 to the new budget’s revenues.

The budget targets a budget deficit of 8.4 percent of GDP and investments worth LE 100 billion, up from LE 70 billion in the current budget.

In comparison with the budget deficit of the current budget, which is expected to range from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent, the 2018/2019 budget deficit is expected to decline 1.4 percent.

Growth in GDP is targeted to reach 5.8 percent, compared to 5.2 percent of the current budget.

The upcoming budget seeks to lower the unemployment rate to 10.4 percent with an inflation rate of 13 percent.

The budget presented to Sisi estimates the public debt reaching 88 percent of GDP.

The Egyptian government will start the new fiscal year with an IPO program of public companies with total shares amounting to LE 80 billion and a market value of LE 430 billion.