The public budget deficit has increased by EGP 267.992 billion ($17 billion) during the period from July 2019 to January 2020, equivalent to 4.4 per cent of the gross domestic product, compared to EGP 214.203 billion ($14 billion) during the same period in the previous year.

In a report the Ministry of Finance attributed the high deficit to the early treasury payment of about EGP 33 billion ($33 billion) during the first quarter of 2019/2020 to pension funds.

Total expenses increased by 9.7 per cent to reach EGP 737.105 billion (EGP 47 billion) during seven months, compared to EGP 672.138 billion ($43 billion) during the same period in the previous fiscal year.

During the first half of this year, the Ministry of Finance provided EGP 60 billion ($4 billion) to pay the value of the Suez Canal certificates, in addition to providing more than EGP 40 billion ($2.5 billion) to purchase additional shipments that meet the country’s petroleum needs.

It’s expected that the budget for the new fiscal year 2020-2021 will record an initial deficit of EGP 425 billion ($27 billion).