Maspero payrolls swallow 2B EGP of 2017/2018 amid 6B losses

CAIRO - 16 May 2017: Losses of state-owned broadcasting station, Maspero, reached 5.863 billion EGP ($323 million) in the draft budget of fiscal year (FY) 2017/2018, the National Media Authority revealed in its report submitted to the parliament Tuesday.

The allocations for Maspero’s staff payroll went up in the new budget to 2.2 billion EGP, an increase of 82 million EGP from the budget of the current FY 2016/17.

Maspero has been a pioneer in television and radio broadcasting in the Middle East and Africa since the 1950s, but it lost it to other Arab and western media, due to lack of planning and mass hiring of employees since the 1980s.

The National Media Authority was formed following a presidential decree in April to manage media institutions owned by the state and monitor the quality of media production.

Maspero budget is divided into:

- 1.906 billion EGP for cash salaries
- 102.2 million EGP for in-kind benefits
- 168.6 million EGP for social insurance
- 22.7 million EGP for allocations
- 104 million EGP for fuel and materials