Egypt’s new budget and lower electricity and fuel subsidies demonstrate a continued commitment to fiscal consolidation and economic reform, backed by the country’s IMF loan programme, Fitch Ratings said in a recent note. “Narrowing the fiscal deficit supports Egypt’s sovereign credit profile, but significantly reducing the public debt ratio is a multi-year task,” the note confirmed. Egypt’s parliament last week passed the state budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year (FY18, starting 1 July). Fuel subsidy reform is a key element of Egypt’s $12 billion IMF programme, according to Fitch. The government has also followed through on its plan for a fourth round of electricity subsidy reform, lowering the electricity subsidy bill to EGP 30 billion, although it has extended the deadline for phasing out electricity subsidies to 2021 from 2019.

Source: Daily News Egypt July 12, 2017 13:41 UTC