Cairo, March 6, 2018 - The Egyptian parliament (House of Deputies) is due to discuss a proposal for the new state budget for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018/2019 by the end of this month, cabinet spokesman Ashraf Sultan has said on Tuesday. Sultan added that the government aims to reduce budget deficit, lower unemployment rates, boost exports and increase social protection programmes in its FY2018/2019 budget. On Monday, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail held a meeting with Minister of Finance Amr el-Garhy during which they reviewed the main features of the FY2018/2019 budget. During the meeting, Minister el-Garhy said that the government seeks to reduce budget deficit to reach less than 9 per cent and achieve a surplus of 2 per cent in the gross domestic product.