{"id":559286,"date":"2021-01-17T03:52:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T03:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/01\/17\/please-sir-can-i-have-some-more\/"},"modified":"2021-01-17T03:52:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T03:52:01","slug":"please-sir-can-i-have-some-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/01\/17\/please-sir-can-i-have-some-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Please, sir, can I have some more?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> The Madbouly Cabinet signed off on a EGP 2 bn overdraft for the FY2020-2021 <\/strong>state budget<\/strong> to help finance measures to prop up the economy and certain sectors amid the fallout from the pandemic, according to a statement<\/a> out after the ministers\u2019 weekly meeting on Thursday. The decision comes as the Finance Ministry announced key figures from the budget\u2019s performance in 1H2020-2021, which Minister Mohamed Maait had told us last week<\/a> would determine whether to seek additional spending allowance and amend targets for the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time the budget has been extended this year:<\/strong> An EGP 80 bn overdraft<\/a> to pay off state debts was approved in August<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The budget deficit narrowed to 3.6% in 1H FY2020-2021<\/strong>, from 4.1% during the same period in the previous fiscal year, while the primary surplus hit EGP 14 bn, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in a cabinet statement<\/a>. State revenues increased 16% y-o-y, comfortably making up for the 9.9% increase in spending necessitated by the pandemic. Tax revenues rose 10% during the period.<\/p>\n

This is a marked improvement from the previous six months:<\/strong> The government suffered a EGP 115 bn shortfall in tax revenue<\/a> in the previous fiscal year as a result of the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Where is the extra spending going?<\/strong> The health sector (+14.7%), the social safety net (+35.8%), and education (+7.4%), Maait said.<\/p>\n

ALSO FROM THE CABINET MEETING- The long-awaited Personal Status Act earned a preliminary nod <\/strong>and will be on the ministers\u2019 agenda next week once some additional tweaks are included. The act, which has been with the House of Representatives since at least 2017<\/a>, will include changes to matters of marriage and divorce, death, inheritance, and child custody.<\/p>\n

Ministers also signed off on:<\/p>\n