Egypt’s macroeconomic conditions improving, says minister

Egypt’s macroeconomic indicators have improved as the North African country recorded a primary budget surplus of 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product during the first 11 months of the current fiscal which ends on June 31.

During a recent meeting with members of the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said the country’s tax revenues grew by 29.4 percent during the aforementioned period. The minister attributed the development to the country’s digitalization efforts.

He said the current account in the first half of the current fiscal year recorded a surplus of $1.8 billion while the oil trade balance achieved a surplus of $1.9 billion.

The minister told the meeting that the country’s non-oil trade increased by $6.2 billion while tourism revenues surged by 26 percent.

He stated that net foreign direct investments grew by 75 percent to reach $5.7 billion noting that the Suez Canal revenues amounted to $4 billion.

Maait said the North African country aims to close the current financial year with $49.3 billion in revenues with an expected growth of 41 percent in the next fiscal year to reach $69.4 billion.

The primary surplus in the fiscal year 2023-2024 is expected to reach 2.5 percent of the GDP according to the budget figures, reported Egypt’s local media.