A law to impose a value added tax (VAT) in Egypt is expected to be approved in "weeks," the country's finance minister, Hany Qadry, told Reuters Sunday.

The long-delayed VAT law is part of the government's fiscal reform programme through which energy subsidies are cut and new taxes are introduced to reduce the country's ballooning deficit.

The VAT law will be submitted to the cabinet in the coming few weeks, Qadry told Reuters.

The finance ministry estimated earlier this year that VAT could raise tax revenues by around LE32 billion ($4.1 billion).

Egypt expects LE422.4 billion ($54 billion) in tax revenues in the current fiscal year ending in July 2016, up from LE267 billion ($34 billion) collected in the previous fiscal year.