Egypt's finance minister said on Monday he expected Egypt's budget deficit to rise to 9.5 per cent of gross domestic project (GDP) in the financial year that begins next July, the state MENA news agency reported. Finance Minister Samir Radwan had been quoted last week as predicting a deficit of 9.1 per cent, up from an expected 8.5 this financial year. Radwan also predicted that GDP would grow by only 2.5 to 3 per cent in the 2010/11 financial year, which ends on 30 June, MENA reported. The government before political unrest broke out in January had been predicting growth of around six per cent.