Egypt's budget deficit has declined to EGP 186.6 billion in the first half of the 2018-2019 fiscal year, from EGP 187.2 billion in the same period of the previous year, the Finance Ministry said in a new report on Monday. 

The deficit accounts for 3.6 percent of the total GDP, said the report.

The revenues upped 28 percent to EGP 388.2 billion from EGP 302.4 billion during the same period of the previous fiscal year, the report read. 

The report also pointed to an 18 percent upturn in expenditures to EGP 574.2 billion in six months compared with EGP 487.7 billion in the same period of 2017/18. 

The report attributed the increase to a rise in public servants' wages and compensation by 15 percent to EGP 131 billion, spending on goods and services purchase to EGP 28.4 billion and interest expense to EGP 207.4 billion.