CAIRO: Egypt's budget deficit is expected to rise to 9.5 percent of gross domestic (GDP) product, said Egypt's Minister of Finance, Samir Radwan. The deficit is expected in the next fiscal year, which begins in July, reported state news agency MENA. Radwan was quoted last week as saying the deficit was predicted to reach 9.1 percent, up from an expected 8.5 this fiscal year. Radwan also expected Egypt's GDP to grow by only 2.5 to 3 per cent in the current 2010/11 fiscal year, which ends on 30 June, MENA reported. The Egyptian government had been expecting a growth rate of around 6 percent before the outbreak of the massive populist revolution that led to the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak on February 11. BM