CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's budget deficit in the fiscal year to end-June was unchanged from the previous year at 6.9 percent of gross domestic product despite a turbulent world economy, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said on Monday.

"This is a big achievement considering the global financial crisis that shook the rate of growth and deficits in many advanced and developing countries," Boutros-Ghali said in a statement.

Egypt's economy has been hurt by a decline in tourism, Suez Canal revenue and foreign investment since world financial markets collapsed in the second half of 2008.

Total revenue rose 24 percent to 274.8 billion pounds, while total expenditure rose 21.7 percent to 343.7 billion pounds.

Expenditure increased in part because of a 16 billion pound fiscal stimulus package and a 16.5 percent increase in civil servants' wages, Boutros-Ghali said. Tax revenue rose 20 percent to 163 billion pounds, due in part to improved collection.

The global financial crisis would cause the deficit to rise in 2009/10 but in subsequent years it will decline sharply, the statement quoted Boutros-Ghali as saying. The government seeks to reduce the budget deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2015, he added.

The 3 percent target is possible, said Simon Kitchen, senior economist at EFG-Hermes. "But it would be contingent on higher GDP growth, which would depend on global growth."

He said reaching the target would also require improvements in tax collection, the introduction of a value added tax and a reduction in subsidies.

In June, the Finance Ministry estimated that the 2009/10 deficit would be 8.4 percent of GDP.

Total government debt was 80.6 percent of GDP as of June 30 while foreign debt was 13.7 percent of GDP.

(Source: Reuters)