Egypt’s budget deficit hits 5.3% of GDP in 9M2018-2019

Egypt’s budget deficit fell to 5.3% of GDP in 9M2018-2019, compared to 6.2% in the same period the previous year, the Finance Ministry said in its April monthly bulletin (pdf). The primary surplus came at 0.7% of GDP during the first nine months of the fiscal year. The numbers came on the back of revenues growing 20.3% y-o-y to EGP 598.7 bn, outpacing the 14% growth in expenditures to EGP 879 bn. Tax revenues increased 16.2% y-o-y to EGP 468.4 bn, of which VAT contributed EGP 247.5 bn. The government is targeting GDP growth of 5.6% for the current fiscal year.

Background: Projections for GDP growth in FY2018-19 from HSBC, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Capital Economics, Fitch Group’s BMI Research, and economists polled by Reuters have ranged between 3.8% and 5.5%.