Egypt’s FY2020/2021 budget is drafted at EGP 2.2 trillion, EGP 1.7 trillion of which make up the expenses, with an increase of EGP 138.6 billion on FY 2019/2020, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said in a statement on Thursday.

Maait added that the total allocations in FY 2020/2021 for health, public enterprise, education and scientific research sectors have reached EGP 682.5 billion, up from EGP 545 billion in FY 2019/2020.

FY 2020/2021 was drafted in light of the international institutions' forecast for the global economy in January 2020, including global oil and wheat prices, trade flow and inflation rates, said Maait.

He added that the ministry kept the budget’s estimations and submitted it to parliament, despite the COVID-19 updates, in order to meet the deadline for budget submission identified by the constitution -- before the end of March.

The budget’s estimations will be revised during the first quarter of FY 2020/2021.

Health allocations record EGP 258.8 billion in FY 2020/2021, with investments increasing by EGP 7 billion to support this vital sector, according to Maait's statement.

Maait said the ministry is committed to extending all the support needed for the sector through providing extra allocations during FY 2020/2021 when needed.

Pre-university education allocations record EGP 241.6 billion, higher education allocations are set at EGP 122 billion, while scientific research allocations are registered for EGP 60.4 billion in the FY 2020/2021 budget.

Maait clarified that the new budget targets amending the structure of wages through a package of procedures worth EGP 34 billion. Some EGP 335 billion were allocated for state workers, and seven percent were added as a bonus for employees working under the civil service law and a bonus of 12 percent was determined for workers not subject to the civil service law.

He added that tax exemption limits will be raised by 60 percent as of July.

FY 2020/2021 also witnessed an unprecedented increase in pharmaceutical sector allocations, given that EGP 11 billion were enrolled for the sector, up from EGP 9.1 billion in FY 2019/2020 to support the purchase of baby milk. EGP 7 billion were allocated for treatment at the expense of the state, up from EGP 6.6 billion in FY 2019/2020, according to Maait.

EGP 3.4 billion were allocated for transport, while EGP 6.4 billion were appropriated as support and grant sums for development.

FY 2020/2021 will begin on 1 July.