Egypt started Sunday the implementation of the largest budget in its history for the fiscal year (FY) 2018-2019. This new budget, which amounts to EGP1.42 trillion, shows an increase in the volume of expenditures by EGP200 billion compared to the budget levels of the FY 2017-2018. In a statement, Egypt’s Ministry of Finance attributed the growth of outlays to the hike of allocations in some social programs. It said that these programs include the public servant wages, which leveled up by EGP30 billion, amounting to EGP720 billion, and government investments, 42 percent of which are financed by the state treasury, amounting to EGP100 billion. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait stressed that the ministry took all the arrangements to put the new budget into effect to coincide with the beginning of President Abdul Fattah al Sisi’s second term in office. “The financial allocations required from the budget authorities were transferred since the first month of the new fiscal year, and strict instructions were given to take into account the controls of rationalization of public expenditure to avoid exceeding the allocation in the budget to the public bodies,” Maait said. The budget reflects the government’s plan to raise the North African nation’s economic growth to 5.8 percent during FY 2018-2019 and to 6.5-7 percent over the medium-term in a bid to rein in inflation rate and cut it below 10 percent, he explained. The Finance Minister stated that the financial allocations for the education and health sectors in the new budget increased from EGP222 billion in the FY 2017-2018 budget to reach EGP257.7 billion in the FY 2018-2019 budget. He said that the ministry will also continue to work to increase state resources in order to achieve plans to increase revenues. “We plan to increase the contribution of non-sovereign sectors to tax revenues by further tightening control over these sectors, working to integrate more informal sector enterprises, countering tax evasion attempts and expanding mechanisms of mechanization.” Maait pointed out that the new budget is also witnessing the continuation of plans to re-prioritize public expenditure to achieve more financial savings in the medium term, allowing for increased public spending on economic and social development projects to improve services provided to citizens.