Egypt's 'special funds' amount to LE47.4 billion in the Central Bank of Egypt and private banks, in foreign and local currencies, Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Monday, citing a report by the Central Auditing Organisation (CAO).
'Special funds' are monies raised by state institutions through means other than customs or taxes, such as revenue accruing from hospital fees or parking tickets.
Several economists and politicians are demanding the integration of the funds – owned and managed by state institutions – into the general budget as a way to ease the deficit expected to reach LE200 billion ($28.75 billion), equivalent to 11.5 percent of national output, in the 2012/13 year to the end of June, according to the investment minister on Saturday.
The report said 6,061 accounts of the controversial private funds worth LE38.6 billion, of which LE5.8 billion are in foreign currencies, had been transferred to a unified account in the central bank.
The funds' revenue in the financial year 2010/2011 was LE98.7 billion, out of which LE97.8 billion was spent.
According to the report, 300 accounts of private funds are not deposited in the central bank. Therefore they cannot be tracked and some of money in the funds is in the form of deposits that do not appear in the government's accounts.
Critics say private funds are a source of corruption and are not properly monitored.
The government collects 20 percent of the funds' revenues.
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