Egyptian Government Allocates USD 12.66 Billion in Subsidies

The Egyptian government has allocated EGP 596 billion (USD 12.66 billion) to the national Subsidies Programme for the financial year 2024/2025, aiming to ease the burden on low and middle-income people who have been significantly affected by inflation rates and the erosion of the value of the pound.

The nearly EGP 600 billion programme includes EGP 134 billion for basic goods such as bread and sugar, EGP 147 billion for petroleum products, and EGP 40 billion for the Takaful Wa Karama programme, which mainly aims to help poorer families with young children and elderly people who are unable to work.

The fuel subsidy is a further increase in that of the current fiscal year, which was set at EGP 130 billion, which itself was a 9% increase on the previous year. The same goes for food subsidies, based on the increased cost of raw materials, particularly wheat, of which the majority was imported from Russia and Ukraine before the beginning of the war.

The economy is expected to remain outside a deficit in the next fiscal year, with the total expenses of the budget totalling EGP 3.9 trillion. Revenues are expected to reach EGP 2.6 trillion, with a further EGP 2 trillion in tax revenues, bringing the total inbound to EGP 4.6 trillion.