Egypt’s Ministry of Finance has published in its July 2013 Financial Monthly preliminary details of its budget for fiscal 2013-14 (which started on 1 July). This targets a deficit 14.5% down on that contained in the latest revision to the 2012-13 budget; taking actual revenue and expenditure figures for the first 11 months of 2012-13 implies an even more ambitious 17% cut (see table). Of course with Egypt’s political outlook remaining anything but clear, as the ongoing standoff between the army and the Muslim Brotherhood continues (see p2), numerous factors could blow these figures way off course.

Total revenue in 2013-14 is projected to rise by 28.5% to E£505.5bn ($72.2bn) and total expenditure by 11.8% to E£689.3bn ($98.5bn), with a resulting deficit of E£186.0bn ($26.6bn), 14.5% less than the previous year. (CONTINUED - 868 WORDS)