The Egyptian Finance Ministry has revealed that in its 2019-2020 budget Cairo is planning to reduce the government debt to GDP ratio to reach 77.5 percent by the end of June 2022, a move that will help bring down the country’s debt service.
The government is working on achieving a minimum average GDP growth of 6 percent, along with 2 percent sustainable primary annual surplus until the fiscal year 2021-2022, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
It noted that FY21/22 will see the decline of the government debt-to-GDP ratio to less than its level in 2011.
According to the ministry, the reduction in the debt will enable its government to allocate more funds to the education and health sectors.
Meanwhile, the General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) said in a report that Egypt’s non-petroleum exports registered $13.037 billion in the first half of 2019.
The Agricultural Export Council came first in exporting Egypt's non-petroleum products in the first six months of the year with $1.575 billion, compared to $1.446 billion in the same period last year.
Egypt's food exports registered $1.559 billion in the first half of 2019, up from $1.469 billion during the same period in 2018, it added.
According to GOEIC, the ready-made garment exports totaled $800 million in January-June 2019, compared to $768 million in the same six months in 2018.
The pharmaceutical exports hit $261 million in the same period this year, up from $252 million during the same period a year earlier.