Finance Min.: Revenues Grow 35.5% in Q1

By: Taarek Refaat

CAIRO, Nov. 23 (SEE)- Mohamed Moait, Egypt's Finance Minister said on Friday that the country's revenues grew 35.5 percent, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

He added that these statistics verify the government's capability in achieving the initial target budget surplus of 2 percent.

"Government investments increased by 85 percent, while tax revenues increased by 39.8 percent," he stated adding that These positive results for the first quarter of this fiscal year confirm Egypt's ability to meet the fiscal targets for the current fiscal year.

Moait credited the positive outcomes of the economy to the reform program adopted by the government, in addition to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan in 2016 that included the devaluation of currency along with the reduction of subsidized commodities.

He noted that the budget deficit in the first quarter of the current fiscal year decreased slightly to 1.9 percent compared with 2 percent last year.

Egypt government pledged to push ahead with the economic reforms necessary to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and reduce the public deficit.

The country's fiscal year extends from July to June.