The Finance Ministry’s FY 2019/20 draft state budget targets reducing Egypt’s total budget deficit to 7% of the country’s GDP, down from 8.4% in the current fiscal year, anticipating to see the deficit shrinking to 5.6% of GDP in FY 2020/21 and 3.9% in 2021/22, Invest-Gate reports.

The draft budget targets that GDP would reach nearly EGP 6.2 tn with growth hitting 6.5% in FY 2019/20, while seeking to cut public debt from 108% of GDP in 2017 to around 98% in 2018, then to 79.4% in 2022, according to the finance ministry’s FY 2019/20 draft state budget released on November 14.

The ministry also plans to either amend the current real estate tax law or apply a new law to implement a taxation system that practically serves the Egyptian citizens, in addition to increasing tax revenues by introducing an electronic billing and tax payment platform.

Bringing down the debt will contribute to boosting the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy by reducing inflation and interest rates, a step that will support the private sector, and create real and sustainable job opportunities, according to the report.

Reducing the debt balance to 79.4% of the GDP in FY 2021/22 requires achieving soaring growth rates that would contribute to improving Egypt’s economic performance, in addition to the urge of attaining marked improvement in the initial budget balance to achieve a surplus amounting to 2% of GDP, the report added.