Egyptian deficit rises to $21.4bn in six months

Egypt’s total public deficit rose to 167.8 billion Egyptian pounds ($21.4 billion) during the first half of the fiscal year 2015/2016, the Ministry of Finance reported yesterday.

According to the ministry’s statement, the deficit was 132 billion Egyptian pounds ($16.8 billion) during the same period of the previous year.

Total net revenues amounted to 192.2 billion Egyptian pounds ($24.5 billion) compared to 163.6 billion Egyptian pounds ($20.8 billion) during the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Last month, the Egyptian Minister of Finance Hani Qadri Demian increased his estimates of the budget deficit during the current fiscal year to 11-11.5 per cent of GDP. He had previously estimated it to be about 8.9 per cent.

Tourism revenues fell in the last three months of last year following the downing of a Russian plane last October. This, accompanied by a decline in the Suez Canal’s revenues, impacted the budget.

Egypt’s fiscal year begins in July.

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