President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is reviewing the budget for the 2015/16 fiscal year and has requested the deficit be reduced by LE40billion between the current financial year and the next, according to a senior informed official.
The government is aiming to remove subsidies on petroleum products, from gasoline and diesel to non-eligible segments, during the second quarter of the new fiscal year (from October to December), after implementing the smart card system.
Over a period of nine months in the 2014/15 fiscal year, Egypt's budget deficit rose to 9.4 percent of the GDP (LE218.3 billion), compared with 7.3 percent of the GDP (LE145 billion) during the same period last year, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
The government pledged last year to develop a plan to reduce energy subsidies over a period of five years.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
