Cairo – Mubasher: Egyptian government is planning to reduce the state’s budget deficit to 9-10% by the end of 2016/17 and to 8-9% by 2019/20, said Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.
Moreover, the government is targeting to reduce public debt to 92-94% of GDP by the end of 2017/18, the minister added in his Sunday’s speech to the House of Representatives.
The country’s budget deficit for 2015/16 stands at EGP251 billion, which represents about 8.9% of GDP, compared to EGP279.4 billion, which represents 11.5% of GDP.
The prime minister said that economic growth rate is expected to be settled at 5-6%, clarifying that more progress in the growth rate requires raising gross domestic savings to 9-10% of GDP instead of the present rate that is less than 6%.
On 24 March, the government said that Egypt’s social and economic development strategy for 2016/17 targets to register a growth of 5.2% in Gross Domestic Product.
In addition, unemployment rate is estimated to be cut to 10-11% by 2017/18, he added.
Mr. Sherif Ismail has delivered today his government’s policy for the coming two years before the House of Representatives, after a minor cabinet reshuffle was made on 23 March.
