Overall budget deficit declines to 2% of GDP in 1QFY2017-18 from 2.2% in last fiscal year

Egypt recorded an overall budget deficit of EGP 85.3 bn for the first quarter of FY2017-18,or around 2% of GDP, compared to 2.2% (EGP 76.8 bn) in the same period last year, the Finance Ministry announced yesterday (pdf). Inflows into state coffers rose 33% y-o-y to EGP 129 bn during the quarter, compared to EGP 96.8 bn last year, on the back of higher tax revenues, which grew by 51.5% y-o-y to EGP 97.2 bn. Non-tax income declined slightly by 2.7% y-o-y to EGP 31.8 bn. Expenditures grew by 24.4% y-o-y to EGP 214.1 bn during the three-month period, from EGP 172.2 bn a year before. Planning Minister Hala El Said had announced last month that Egypt’s economy grew 5.2% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, up from 3.4% in FY2016-17, while the primary budget deficit dropped to 0.1% of GDP from 0.9% a year before. The government is targeting a GDP growth rate of 5-5.25% for FY2017-18.