Egypt budget deficit down to 4.2 percent of GDP in 1H 2017/18: Planning Ministry

Ahram Online , Monday 19 Mar 2018

The total budget deficit in 1H 2017/18 was at 5 percent of GDP

Egypt's total budget deficit fell to 4.2 percent of GDP in the first half of fiscal year 2017-18, down from 5 percent in the same period last year (Photo Courtesy of the Ministry of Planning)

Egypt’s budget deficit decreased to 4.2 percent of GDP in the first half of fiscal year 2017/18, down from 5 percent in the first half of fiscal year 2016/17, the Ministry of Planning announced on Monday in a statement.

Total budget deficit in the first half of fiscal year 2015/16 was at 6.4 percent of GDP, Ministry of Planning data showed.

The finance ministry had announced in January that the total budget deficit fell to 4.4 percent of GDP in the current fiscal year's first half, which ended in December 2017.

As for the primary deficit, it fell to 0.3 percent of GDP in the first half of fiscal year 2017/18, down from 1.1 percent of GDP in the first half of fiscal year 2016/17, and from 2.2 percent of GDP the fiscal year before.

Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy had said in January that the government is on track to achieve the targeted primary surplus of 0.2 percent of GDP by the end of the current fiscal year.

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