HomeWorldEgypt's budget deficit rises to $11.9 bln: report

Egypt’s budget deficit rises to $11.9 bln: report

 Egypt’s budget deficit rose to 65 billion Egyptian pounds in July-Jan of fiscal year 2009/10, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday, citing a report from the finance ministry.
The figure represents 5.5 percent of Egypt’s GDP, the report added, and compares with 39 billion pounds in the same period a year earlier. Egypt’s fiscal year begins on July 1.

“This rise in the budget deficit reflects a slowdown in domestic economic activity and the effects of the global financial crisis,” MENA quoted the report as saying.

Public spending declined by 6.2 percent in July-Jan of fiscal year 2009/10 to 173.8 billion pounds. In the corresponding period of fiscal year 2008/09, public spending was 185.3 billion pounds.

“Revenues and grants registered a noticeable decline of 26.2 percent during the first 7 months of the current fiscal year,” the report said. Last month, a finance ministry report said the deficit for the last six months of 2009 was 57.5 billion pounds.

Revenues and grants in July-Jan of fiscal year 2009/2010 stood at 108.6 billion pounds versus 147.1 billion during the same period a year earlier.

“Non-tax revenues declined by 50 percent in addition to declines in tax revenues by 7 percent,” the report said.
Corporate income tax slumped 34.7 percent to reach 19.1 billion pounds, the report said, compared with 29.3 billion in the same period a year earlier. Taxes on international trade dropped 6.9 percent to 7.7 billion pounds.

Property tax revenue grew to 4.9 billion pounds from 1.2 billion in the same period a year earlier while taxes on goods and services inched up 2 percent to 35.4 billion.

Egypt’s cabinet said in January it plans to present an 11.2 billion Egyptian pound economic stimulus package to parliament.
It would be the third adopted by Egypt since the global financial crisis broke out. An initial 15 billion pounds was approved in October 2008 and a second 8 billion pounds was added to the 2009-2010 budget

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