By: Ahmad Abu el-HamdÂ
Egypt’s prime minister Sherif Ismail said that the Egyptian government will begin discussing the public budget for fiscal year 2017/2018 during the upcoming week, before approving and then referring it the House of Representatives.
Ismail added in a statement on Monday that the government is discussing increasing provisions for potential public investments in the new budget resolution.
The new budget will see a decrease in imports and a growth in exports, the prime minister indicated.
The minister of finance, Amr Al-Garhy, had previously announced that the new budget will be presented to Parliament before 31 March.
The Egyptian ministry of finance (MoF) estimates the total budget deficit for FY16/17 to reach EGP 319.46 billion compared to an actual deficit of EGP 339.5 billion in the year before.