Egypt's budget deficit drops to 6.1 pct of GDP in 2021/22 fiscal year

CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's budget deficit dropped to 6.1 percent of its gross domestic product in the fiscal year 2021/22 from the 6.8 percent in the previous fiscal year, according to the state's financial performance indicators.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting with several ministers on Monday to review the indicators of this fiscal year, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement.

The state general budget also achieved a primary surplus of 97 billion Egyptian pounds (5.14 billion U.S. dollars) for the fiscal year 2021/2022, which ended on June 30, with about 20 percent in revenue growth and 15 percent expenditure growth, according to the statement. This was the fourth consecutive year a primary surplus had been achieved.

The budget also cut the value of the debt service bill to 32.8 percent from 35.8 percent in the previous fiscal year.

Briefed on the preliminary results of the general budget performance, Sisi asked his government to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio by rationalizing government expenditure and maintaining a disciplined public financial performance.

During the meeting, he called for supporting and enhancing social protection programs, keeping investments to maximize production and provide jobs and continuing spending on health and education programs.

Egypt's annual inflation rate rose to 15.3 percent in May compared with 4.9 percent in the same month last year, according to the country's official statistics agency.