Egypt posted a record primary surplus of 435 billion Egyptian pounds, equivalent to 2.5 per cent of GDP, over the past nine months, as economic conditions improved and confidence grew among business and funding partners, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk told the House of Deputies (HoD) during a presentation of the 2025/2026 draft budget. The surplus was achieved despite a drop of 110 billion pounds in Suez Canal revenues and the allocation of an additional 150 billion pounds in support to the energy sector. From July to March, public revenues rose by 32 per cent while expenditures increased by 24 per cent. Kouchouk noted that Egypt recorded its highest tax revenues in years, reaching 1.4 trillion pounds—an increase of 38 per cent. He emphasised that this performance was achieved without introducing new taxes on citizens or businesses, but rather through simplification, digitisation, and broadening of the tax base in partnership with the business community. He said that efforts are ongoing to improve the investment climate by enhancing tax and customs procedures, aiming to build greater trust with taxpayers. The ratio of expenditures to GDP remained stable during the period from July to March compared to the previous year, while the budget deficit narrowed to 6.3 per cent. He added that net foreign reserves rose to $47.7 billion, and inflation dropped from 33.3 per cent in March 2024 to 13.6 per cent in March 2025. Private sector investments accounted for 59 per cent of total investments in the first half of the fiscal year, with an annual growth rate of 80 per cent. The tourism sector grew by 13.1 per cent, non-oil manufacturing expanded by 12.4 per cent, and the ICT sector by 15.1 per cent. Spending during the past nine months on healthcare rose by 27 per cent, and on education rose by 23 per cent. The government allocated 95 billion pounds for subsidised food commodities, reflecting an annual increase of 37 per cent, while 30 billion pounds went to the Takaful and Karama social protection programme, up 24 per cent. Spending on state-funded medical treatment reached 11 billion pounds, reflecting a 35 per cent increase. Support for industrial production surged by 128 per cent to 8 billion pounds, while funding for export promotion rose by 78 per cent to 7 billion pounds. Kouchouk noted that the external debt of budgetary entities declined by $1 billion over the past eight months. The renewed confidence of foreign investors helped extend the average maturity of public debt to 1.8 years by December 2024. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: M. S. Salama
