Investment Minister: Budget deficit 11.5% of GDP for the 2012-2013 fiscal year

Yahya Hamid, Egypt’s new Investment Minister, said on Saturday that the country’s budget deficit had reached EGP 200bn, or 11.5% of GDP, for the 2012-2013 fiscal year ending in June. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development recently stated that: “Egypt’s budget deficit has increased to EGP 200bn, or 11.5% of GDP. We hope to see this number go down to 9.5% within the next year.”