26 Jul 2021

In a meeting with the President and the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance presented some key financial indicators for FY20/21. He revealed that the government reduced the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP from 8% to 7.4%, helped in part by a primary surplus representing 1.4% of GDP. He also reported that the government managed to increase revenues by over 12%, while increasing public spending by 9%.

As for sovereign debt, he reported that the ratio of debt to GDP has declined from 108% in FY16/17 to 91% in FY20/21, indicating better debt management. Furthermore, the duration of the debt has been extended from under 1.3 years before June 2017 to 3.5 years in June 2021. Debt service has also been reduced from 40% of total expenditures in FY19/20 to 36% in FY20/21, with the goal of reaching a level under 32% in FY21/22. On the investment front, the Minister pointed out that total public investment in FY21/22 increased by 28% YoY.

(Source: Zawya (English), al-Ahram (English), Daily News Egypt (English), al-Maal, Hapi Journal, al-Masry al-Youm, Sada el-Balad, CNBC Arabia, al-Arabia