The Egyptian parliament approved on Wednesday a draft law cutting pensions for some government officials by more than 50 percent as part of the state’s efforts to revitalise the state’s economy.

The new draft law reduces pensions for the speaker of the house, the prime minister, cabinet members, as well as governors and their deputies.

The draft law stipulates that pensions received upon retirement will be reduced from 80 percent to 25 percent, and will set pensions according to the period of service.

Speaker of the House Ali Abdel-Aal said that the approval of the law serves the interest of the state budget, adding that another problem is that various officials that are granted ministerial-level positions in different sectors after they retire, which is a burden on the state's budget.

Parliament has also passed a draft law to amend Law 91/2005 on real estate taxes, and is set to send the amendments to the State Council for review.

The new amendments introduced a tax of 2.5 percent on land or any building constructed on plots of land whether or not the structure is owned by the land-owner.

Inheritors of land are exempted from the tax, according to the law, which also exempts taxes for using the land or real estate as in-kind shares in limited companies, under the condition these shares are not traded for five years.

Another exception from taxes stated in the law is renting the land for 50 years or more, or granting it to a first or second degree relative, to the government, or as a donation for projects of public interest.

The amendments also do not include real estate allocated as asset capital for joint-stock companies, under the condition that shares are traded within five years.