The parliament’s Health Committee asked Minister of Health Ahmed Emad El-Din to present a statement on the ministry’s expenditure during the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY), as well as the ministry’s budget allocations during the year.
Parliamentary sources said that the minister told the Health Committee that the ministry’s budget allocation reached EGP 47bn, although the government and the parliament had agreed to increase the health budget to EGP 74bn.
According to the Constitution, the Ministry of Health’s budget is supposed to increase by 3% of the GDP, estimated at EGP 2.8bn.
Shadia Thabet, a member of the parliamentary Health Committee, said that in case the ministry’s allegation about its budget allocation was proven, the committee will demand to withdraw confidence from the government for the violating the Constitution.
The parliament’s Health Committee summoned the minister of health to participate in a hearing session on the ministry’s strategy for the development of 377 hospitals during the coming period.
Daily News Egypt revealed that the parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee agreed with the Finance Ministry to calculate the Health Ministry’s allocations based on the GDP in the last FY 2015/2016, and not based on the GNP. The vast majority of the Egyptian economy is domestic which makes it difficult to calculate the GNP.
Assistant health minister for financial affairs Sayyed El-Shahed said that the Ministry of Health’s budget allocations amount to EGP 47.8bn, not EGP 74bn.
He told Daily News Egypt that his ministry’s allocations are estimated at 1.5% of the GDP, and are expected to reach 3% of the GDP within the coming two years.
