The parliament approved the final accounts of Egypt's general budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015, which resulted in a total deficit worth EGP 279.4bn—general revenues were EGP 465.3bn, and general expenses were EGP 733.4bn. This deficit represents 11.5% of the total GDP, according to the press statement by the finance ministry. Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy stressed the importance of the parliament discussing the final accounts to review the full picture of the results of the state's financial policies and the fact that the state prioritises the less fortunate groups. Final accounts for FY 2014/2015 reveal that the social dimension programmes attracted around EGP 230.6bn, including spending on education and health, besides directing EGP 61.7bn for public investment and EGP 198.5bn for wages and worker compensation. Moreover, an important indicator of fiscal policy success is the reduction of public debt benefits from EGP199.1bn to around EGP 193bn by limiting the general budget for FY 2014/2015, and reducing the allocation for goods and services necessary for the work of the state administration from EGP 34.9bn to EGP 31.3bn in the final account, said El-Garhy. About EGP 236.5bn of local and foreign loans were paid during FY 2014/2015, which marks an increase of about EGP 107.5bn from the previous fiscal year, while grants Egypt received accounted for around EGP 25.4bn in FY 2014/2015 compared to EGP 95.9bn in 2013/2014. Petroleum subsidies accounted for EGP 73.9bn, electricity subsidies for EGP 23.6bn, public transportation for 1.6bn, and health insurance for EGP 839.5m. He added that the treasury contributions to insurance and pensions funds were approximately EGP 33.2bn, while some other economic bodies received about EGP 3.8bn in support.
