BUDGET WATCH- Overdraft won’t blow budget deficit target, El Garhy says. Some EGP 70 bn in overdraft spending for the soon-to-close FY2017-18 budget will not impact Egypt’s targeted budget deficit for the year, said Finance Minister Amr El Garhy. The budget deficit is still on track to fall to 9.8% of GDP by the end of June despite the overdraft, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Sunday. Spending for the year had outpaced projections largely on account of higher debt service costs, said El Garhy.

As for the ministry’s plans to hedge against a further increase in oil prices, El Garhy said that a decision would be made on whether to employ a bank to adopt a hedging strategy after the Eid El Fitr break next week. He confirmed a story we noted this week that ministry was indeed looking for strategies to hedge against continued rising oil prices and that the ministry had spoken to international banks and institutions.