CAIRO, Jul 4 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt’s budget deficit soared to EGP 311 billion (around $25 billion) during the period between July 2015 and May 2016, constituting 11.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

In its monthly report, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday the budget deficit during the same period of the fiscal year 2014/2015 amounted to approximately EGP 262 billion (around $29.5 billion), hitting 10.8 per cent of GDP.

The rise in the budget deficit comes despite the increase of tax revenues during the period between July 2015 and May 2016 by 3 per cent, compared to the same period in the previous year.

The ministry also said that the public expenditure between July 2015 and May 2016 reached 23.6 per cent while the revenues made up 12.9 per cent of the GDP.