CAIRO: The Egyptian government posted a budget deficit of 6.9 percent of the gross domestic product for the fiscal year that ended in June. The announcement was less than original government forecasts and in the report Cairo said there are plans to more than halve the deficit over the next 6 years. The 6.9 percent was nearly the same amount it was the previous fiscal year, preliminary figures appear to reveal, the ministry of finance said on Monday in a press statement. The government target for 2015 is to reduce that number to around three percent, the statement added. With revenues rising to 24 percent, the projected forecast of 8 percent deficit was not hit, with analysts arguing the economy was boosted by strong tax returns. Initially, the ministry had aimed for the 6.9 percent, but raised that estimate after approving a 15 billion pound ($2.7 billion) economic stimulus package. Economic growth probably slowed to 4.5 percent in the fiscal year that ended in June, down from an average of 7 percent in the previous three fiscal years, the International Monetary Fund said on July 27. Growth this fiscal year is expected to be “below potential†at about 4 percent, the Washington D.C.-based lender said. The government is targeting a budget deficit of 8.4 percent in the fiscal year through 2010, which the IMF said is “largely as a result of an expected cyclical deterioration in revenues.†**Information from Bloomberg was used for this report BM
