He noted that the primary deficit recorded a decline of 40%, while the primary deficit to GDP stood at 1.3%, compared to 2.6% in the last FY. Primary deficit differs from the total fiscal deficit. While the fiscal deficit is defined as the difference between total revenue and expenditure, primary deficit is being calculated by deducting interest payment from fiscal deficit. El-Mounir pointed out that tax revenues grew by 25%, including increases in corporate tax by 27%, tax on wages by 16%, real estate tax by 132%, and VAT by 31% compared to sales tax. He added that the ministry is working to develop a programme to inventory real estate deeds, noting that the ministry detected more than 600,000 real estate deeds during the last two months.

Source: Daily News Egypt March 21, 2017 14:13 UTC