The economy grew at a 4.5% clip during the fiscal year 2024-2025, exceeding the 4.2% penciled in in the draft budget and almost doubling y-o-y from the 2.4% recorded in FY 2023-2024, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said during a presser attended by EnterpriseAM yesterday. The presser focused on last fiscal year’s financial indicators, which according to Kouchouk showed “improved economic performance.”

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External debt fell USD 1 bn last fiscal year, and by about USD 4 bn over the past two years, this pushed the debt-to-GDP ratio to 85.6% in June 2025 from 89.4% in June 2024. “We repaid more than we borrowed,” Kouchouk said, adding that the average maturity of domestic debt has expanded from 1.2 years by the end of the FY 2023-24 to 1.6 years in June 2025.

According to plan: The Madbouly government is targeting a USD 1-2 bn annual reduction in the Finance Ministry’s external debt and to bring down the debt-to-GDP ratio to 80% by the end of June 2026.

This came despite the continued dip in Suez Canal receipts — the canal missed out on USD 3 bn in revenues last fiscal due to ongoing Red Sea disruptions.

FDI inflows also returned to its traditional levels, falling to USD 10 bn in FY 2024-2025, according to Kouchouk. The figure marks a 78% y-o-y dip from the record high recorded in the fiscal year 2023-2024, when inflows were primarily driven by ADQ’s USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma agreement.

Egypt recorded its highest-ever primary surplus of EGP 629 bn — 3.6% of GDP — in the fiscal year 2024-2025, up 80% y-o-y, the finance minister previously said. Meanwhile, the budget deficit expanded to EGP 1.2 tn last fiscal year, compared to EGP 505 bn in FY 2023-24, which had fallen on the back of the Ras El Hekma agreement.

Money in. Money out. Total revenues rose 29.0% y-o-y during the fiscal year to EGP 2.6 tn, driven by a 35.3% y-o-y jump in tax revenues, which hit EGP 2.2 tn, which Kouchouk had previously attributed to tax measures introduced to widen the tax base and create a more efficient tax system. Spending increased at a slower pace, growing by 16.3% y-o-y to come in at EGP 3.9 tn. Both figures line up with those targeted in the draft budget for the year.

Social support took up a chunk of the year’s expenditure: Social security spending rose 12% y-o-y to EGP 642 bn. The Madbouly government spent EGP 165.4 bn (+24% y-o-y) on food subsidies, EGP 43.2 bn (+22.8% y-o-y) on social security programs, including Takaful and Karam, and EGP 142.7 bn (+5.8% y-o-y) on pensions.

Where did the rest of the money go? The government allocated EGP 440 bn to secure the energy needs and pay back arrears owed to international oil companies during the 12-month period. Another EGP 73.4 bn went to the Unified Procurement Authority — marking a 92.4% y-o-y increase — to help settle its overdue payments to pharma companies.

IN CONTEXT- The government had pledged that the summer of 2025 will not see the comeback of rolling blackouts. To that end, the state booked in LNG shipments — and the necessary infrastructure to process the deliveries — to close the gap between demand and supply. As for the spending on arrears, we reported in February that the government is planning to clear all arrears owed to international oil companies by the end of 2025 in a bid to see international oil companies commit new investments, enhance exploration efforts, and increase extraction rates, with the aim of boosting local production.

ALSO- The state spent EGP 18 bn on the export support program and on overdue export subsidy payment. Another EGP 14.3 bn was spent to support the industrial and agricultural sectors during the fiscal year and some EGP 94 bn were earmarked for guarantees for transport, trade and tourism projects.

LOOKING AHEAD-

The second package of tax facilities is upon us: The second package of tax relief measures will be opened up for community dialogue in October, Kouchouk said, with the package to be rolled out “very soon” pending parliamentary approval of some aspects. The first package of tax facilities was issued earlier this year.

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