Egypt’s budget deficit widened to 3.2% of GDP in the first two months of FY2023/2024 to around $12.4 billion, up from 1.4% in the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to a new report by the Ministry of Finance.

Government expenditures increased by 92% on an annual basis to EGP 590.7 billion.

Total revenues were up by 28% annually compared to the first two months of FY2022/2023, hitting EGP 206,88 billion.

Tax revenues grew by 29% on an annual basis to EGP 172.5 billion, forming 83.3% of total revenues.

Egypt’s external debt saw a slight drop, declining to $164.73 billion during Q4 of FY2022/2023 from $165.36 billion in the earlier quarter.

Egypt’s debt-to-GDP ratio hit 95.6% in FY2022/2023, with the GDP recording EGP 9.8 trillion ($318,23 billion).

The budget deficit accounted for 6.1% of Egypt’s GDP in FY2022/2023, despite this, the government was able to achieve an $882 million surplus in its Balance of Payment (BoP) in the same year.

The government increased its budget deficit estimate to 6.9% of GDP for FY2023/2024, which started on July 1st, as the local economy continues to deal with the repercussions of back-to-back economic and geopolitical events.