The Madbouly government wants to bring Egypt’s debt-to-GDP ratio down to 84% in FY 2022-2023, according to a document seen by Bloomberg Asharq. This is the first time the debt target for next fiscal year has been revised since the Finance Ministry in January said it hoped to bring the public debt down to below 90% of GDP. Egypt’s debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to come in at around 85% this year.

Revenue forecasts have also been revised upwards: The state is now expecting to bring in EGP 1.52 tn in FY 2022-2023, up from a previously expected EGP 1.45 tn — and more than 10% above projected revenues for the current fiscal year.

This ties in with state plans to bring down the debt: In a speech before the Eid break, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said his administration would announce a plan to reduce public debt and the budget deficit over the next four years, without specifying when to expect the announcement.

OTHER KEY FIGURES- The government is still targeting a 6.1% budget deficit next year, down from a projected 6.2% by the end of this fiscal year, and a primary surplus of 1.5%, up from an expected 1.3% by the end of this fiscal year, Bloomberg Asharq reports. Government spending is also still set to rise 12% next year to reach EGP 2.07 tn. Growth for next year is penciled in at 5.5% of GDP.

FinMin releases fresh 2021-2022 figures

A primary surplus in 9M 2021-2022: Fresh fiscal data released by the Finance Ministry has shown that Egypt generated a 0.4% primary surplus in the first nine months of the fiscal year, remaining more or less unchanged from the same period last year. Egypt hopes to achieve a 1.3% surplus by the end of the fiscal year in June, down slightly from its original 1.5% target in the state budget.

Deficit narrows: The budget deficit narrowed to 4.9% of GDP during the nine-month period, from 5.4% in 9M 2020-2021. The government is forecasting the deficit to fall to 6.2% of GDP by the end of the current fiscal year from 7.4% last year.

Revenues + spending rise: Revenues rose almost 8% during the July-March period from the year before thanks to a 13% increase in tax receipts. This was outpaced by a growth in spending, which rose almost 10% thanks to the government’s higher wage bill, a rise in debt servicing costs and increased spend on goods and services.