The allocation of a total of EGP 1.31bn to different sectors was approved by Minister of Finance Ahmed Galal on Sunday. According to a statement from the ministry, the allocations aim to improve public services for citizens. EGP 1.1bn will be allocated to the petroleum sector to repay its January debts for petroleum products, including natural gas and diesel, used in power stations. The Ministry of Finance has provided EGP 7.74bn for the petroleum sector since last July, Galal stated. Earlier in December, Galal allotted EGP 225m to the petroleum ministry in order to continue delivering natural gas to residential units. The total amount of funding directed to this project has reached EGP 481m. The government announced in December that it would repay $1.5bn of the $6.3bn owed to foreign oil firms. Meanwhile, the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) will receive EGP 25.9bn from the allocations in order to fund an assistance programme for households headed by women. The number of beneficiaries of the programme has increased to record 520,000 women, the ministry said. The membership value of the programme costs the public treasury EGP 200 for each woman, according to ministry figures. However, each woman pays a minimum of EGP 12 a year. Galal also approved the allocation of EGP 41.8m for a programme providing health insurance for 13.9 million children under school-age, born between 2007 and 2012. EGP 15m was also approved by the minister in order to develop blood bank centres to supply hospitals with blood bags. A total amount of EGP 123m was also allotted to the Ministry of Education for printing school books for students. Expenditure on health and education sectors is expected to increase starting from the 2014/2015 fiscal year. According to the new ratified constitution, spending rates for the health sector will increase to 3% of GDP, 4% for education and 1% for scientific research.
