Egyptian president okays general budget with deficit

Cairo, June 30 (IANS) Egypt's newly-elected President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has approved a revised version of the country 's general budget for the fiscal year 2014/2015, with a deficit of 10 percent of the gross domestic product, the government said Sunday.

The finance ministry said in a statement Sunday that the budget includes a spending of 789 billion Egyptian pounds (about 110 billion dollars), while revenues are expected to stand at 549 billion Egyptian pounds (about 77 billion dollars), Xinhua reported.

The difference between spending and revenues shows a budget deficit of 240 billion Egyptian pounds (33.5 billion dollars), representing about a 10-percent deficit for the new fiscal year, comparing with the 12 percent for the 2013/2014 fiscal year.

Egypt's economy has been deteriorating after mass protests toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak in January 2011, which was followed by three years of turmoil and lack of security that included the military ouster of Mubarak's successor, the Muslim Brotherhood-oriented former President Mohamed Morsi, in early July last year.

During that chaotic period, the most populous Arab state lost billions of dollars in its declining foreign currency reserves and foreign investments.