Egypt's spending on healthcare and education will account for 5.7 percent and 11.1 percent of total government spending, respectively, according to the finance ministry.

Budget allocations for healthcare will rise by 8 percent and spending on education will increase by less than 5 percent in the next fiscal year, the finance ministry said on Monday.

Egypt has allocated EGP 53.3 billion in the next fiscal year’s budget to healthcare spending, up from EGP 49.3 billion in the previous year, Deputy Minister of Finance Mohamed Moaeit said in the statement, while education spending will rise to EGP 104 billion from EGP 99.3 billion in the last budget.

This would put healthcare and education spending at 1.6 percent and 3.1 percent of the GDP, which planning minister Ashraf El-Araby recently said is expected to reach EGP 3.3 trillion in FY 2016/2017.

According to the Egyptian constitution, the government is required to spend at least 3 percent of the Gross National Product (GNP) on healthcare and at least 4 percent of the GNP on education every year, increasing allocations gradually to comply with international standards.

The government aims to cut the budget deficit down to 9.8 percent of the GDP, compared to a current 11.5 percent, according to previous statements made by the minister of finance.

Government spending as a whole is projected to increase by 13 percent to reach EGP 936 billion, up from EGP 828 billion, according to the statement.

State revenues are estimated to rise by less than 1.5 percent in the 2016/2017 fiscal year to reach EGP 631 billion, up from EGP 622 billion expected this year, according to the statement.

Spending on wages will increase by close to 5 percent in the next fiscal year’s budget, from EGP 218.1 billion to EGP 228.1 billion, to represent almost a quarter of government spending.

They had increased by 5.3 percent in FY15/16, compared to the previous year, according to the latest available data on the finance ministry's website.

*Official exchange rate: EGP 8.78 per 1 USD