Upon reviewing the general budget plan for the 2013/2014 fiscal year, Minister of Finance Ahmed Galal approved new budget allocations for different sectors. In order to alleviate the burdens on the tourism sector, Galal has allocated EGP 165m of the sector's budget to help the Ministry of Tourism finance its tourism promotion activities. The Ministry of Finance has also allotted EGP 225m to the petroleum ministry in order to continue delivering natural gas to residential units. The total amount of the funding directed to this project has reached EGP 481m, according to a statement from the ministry. The National Project for Training for Employment, which is affiliated with the Industrial Training Council, will obtain EGP 125m from the budget of the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade to train youth "to be equipped for available job opportunities in the industrial sector". Regarding the development of railway crossings, Galal approved the allocation of EGP 355m to improve them. "This represents half of railway allots in country's general budget," the statement said. "This procedure [of providing funding to develop railway crossings] aims to provide the Ministry of Transportation with an incentive to prepare a timeframe for implementing this project and assess railway crossings that need development," the statement added. Galal also increased the funds allocated to the Supreme Council of Journalism by EGP 11.5m; the total fund directed to the council in the first half of the current fiscal year reached EGP 68.5m. Meanwhile, after revising reports by Central Auditing Organization, the finance ministry announced that the total funding directed at subsidised sugar has reached EGP 5.8bn in 2012/2013. The finance ministry has approved the payment of the debts it owes to the Sugar and Integrated Industries Company (SIIC) in the previous fiscal year, which amounted to EGP 186.3m, in addition to EGP 300m in the current fiscal year. In order to develop the general budget for the 2014/2015 fiscal year, the ministry had announced earlier in December the strategic goals the new budget aims to achieve. "A general budget is essential to reaching the economic and social goals of the nation. The primary goal of the budget is to benefit all Egyptians and take into consideration the state of the low income citizens through a focus on ‘national income' as well as economic growth," the ministry said. The ministry further stated that "transparency and public disclosure" are also required in the coming budget plan. The statement added: "It is no longer appropriate to hide resources and non-recurring expenses from the general budget or the public treasury." The ministries are expected to submit their budget plans for the 2014/2015 fiscal year to the Ministry of Finance in December.
