Egypt’s GDP increased by 5.6% in the first half (1H) of fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015, while the second quarter (Q2) grew by 4.3%, Minister of Planning Ashraf El-Araby announced Saturday.
El-Araby attributed the improvement to the government’s reform measures adopted at the beginning of the fiscal year that aimed to improve the investment climate and curb unemployment and price rises.
The Ministry of Finance also reported an improved 1H economic performance, with rising tax revenues rising during the first half of the fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015 by 9.9%, registering EGP 114bn.
It has attributed the increase to a EGP 14bn hike in products and services taxes revenues, marking 33.8%, to reach EGP 55.3bn, the report said. The budget expenditures during the same period recorded EGP 287.4bn, a 9.7% increase, the ministry said. It attributed it to increases in social programmes spending, including the minimum wage, physicians and teachers’ bonuses, social insurance pensions and investments in infrastructure.
The Finance Ministry detailed that sales tax revenues grew by 25.3% to register EGP 25bn between July and December 2014. There was also an increase in taxes on petroleum products by 218%, recording EGP 5.4bn, and revenues of service tax by 28%, also recording EGP 5.4bn.
The budget deficit’s growth decreased in the first half of the current fiscal year to register EGP 89.4bn, equivalent to 4.5% of GDP. This compared to EGP 132bn, equivalent to EGP 5.7% of GDP in last fiscal year.
