Germany to earmark $250mn in 2018 to plug Egypt’s budget deficit

The German government will allocate $250 million in 2018 to plug Egypt’s budget deficit, German ambassador to Cairo Julius Georg Luy said in a press conference Monday, Ahram Arabic news website reported.

The German loan is part of the external funding to help Egypt close the financing gap in its budget, which is stipulated by the 2016 $12 billion IMF Extended Fund Facility agreement.

Egypt’s overall budget deficit fell to 10.8 percent of GDP in financial year 2016/2017, from 12.5 percent of GDP in financial year 2015/2016.

The primary deficit decreased to 1.8 percent of GDP in financial year 2016/2017, from 3.5 percent of GDP in financial year 2015/2016.

The German ambassador Luy also said Germany’s Economic Cooperation and Development Minister is in Cairo to meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr, and to visit Siemens’ gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Beni Suef.

On tourism, the ambassador said the number of German tourists who visited Egypt this year reached 720k tourists, an 85 percent increased, compared to the same period last year.

The “German week” will kick off in the Nile Delta on 29 October, until 2 November, in cooperation with 10 German institutions, hosting a number of cultural events, the minister noted. Source: Ahram online