Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said on Saturday that the government aims to reduce the total budget deficit to about 9.5-9.7 percent of GDP in the current 2017/2018 fiscal year compared to 10.9 percent of GDP in the previous year. Rady made the remarks following a meeting between President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Finance Minister Amr al-Garhy, Deputy Finance Minister for Treasury Mohamad Moait, and Deputy Finance Minister for Fiscal Policies Ahmed Kouchouk. He said the meeting reviewed the financial results for 2017/2018 fiscal year and the most important financial targets. Rady said that the Finance Minister reviewed the efforts exerted at various levels to stimulate the economy and encourage investments. Rady added that the meeting reviewed the preliminary features of the draft budget for the next fiscal year 2018/2019, while the Finance Minister said that the government aims to reduce the budget deficit to 8.5 percent of GDP.

Source: Egypt Independent March 11, 2018 11:15 UTC