Egypt studies effect of new oil price on budget

CAIRO - 18 May 2018: The Egyptian government is studying the effect of the rise of global oil price on the new budget of fiscal year 2018/2019, as oil is one of the external influences on the budget, Minister of Finance Amr el-Garhy said.

"We will see if we can increase our revenues from other sources," Garhy added in a press conference.

Oil prices reached $80 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since November 2014.
Garhy clarified that the price of oil increased due to the regional factors, including the United States withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement.

The Iran nuclear deal was a preliminary agreement reached in 2015 between the Islamic Republic of Iran and a group of world powers, including the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council; the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China and Germany and the European Union.

Trump announced the withdrawal from the agreement, saying "It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement.”

"The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen,” Trump added.

He stressed on the government’s commitment to the reports of international banks.

The new Egyptian budget for fiscal year 2018/2019 targets revenues of LE 990 billion, and expenditures of LE 1.4 trillion.

It also seeks to lower the unemployment rate to 10.4 percent with an inflation rate of 13 percent.

Egypt targets a budget deficit of 8.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the new budget with a GDP growth of 5.8 percent, up from 5.2 percent in the current fiscal year, and investment worth LE 100 billion, up from LE 70 billion in the current budget.