Egypt to impose VAT in ‘weeks’: Minister

A law to impose a value added tax (VAT) in Egypt is expected to be approved in “weeks,” the country’s finance minister, Hany Qadry, announced to Reuters Sunday.

The long-delayed VAT law is part of the government’s fiscal reform programme through which energy subsidies are cut and new taxes are introduced to reduce the country’s ballooning deficit.

The VAT law will be submitted to the cabinet in the coming few weeks, Qadry told Reuters.

The finance ministry estimated earlier this year that VAT could raise tax revenues by around 32 billion Egyptian pounds (US$4.1 billion).

Egypt expects 422.4 billion pounds (US$54 billion) in tax revenues in the current fiscal year ending in July 2016, up from 267 billion pounds (US$34 billion) collected in the previous fiscal year.