Egypt’s budget deficit rises 1.7% in two months

Egypt’s budget deficit rose 1.7 percent to hit 83.9 billion pounds in July-August 2018, or 1.6 percent of the GDP, up from 74.6 billion pounds in the same period of 2017, Finance Ministry reported Sunday.

Revenues increased by 34.9 percent to 100.6 billion pounds in July and August 2018, up from 74.5 billion pounds last year, the ministry said in a recent report.

The ministry attributed the increase to a rise in tax revenues by 50 percent to reach 83.9 billion pounds, while non-tax revenues went down by 10 percent to 16.7 billion pounds.

The total expenses went up by 23.7 percent to 184.2 billion pounds, compared to 148.9 billion pounds.

Wages and labor’s remuneration also rose by 24.8 percent to 46.7 billion pounds, the statement added.

Source: MENA