CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian insurance and pension funds grew 13 percent to 23.5 billion Egyptian pounds in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said on Friday.

Funds for government employees stood at 12.9 billion pounds and funds for the public and private sector totalled 10.6 billion pounds, Boutros-Ghali said in remarks cited by the state news agency MENA.

An additional 1.7 million people joined the ranks of the insured in the fiscal year, MENA reported, in a country of some 80 million where a fifth live on less than $1 a day.

The increase was partly a result of 74,000 entities coming under the insurance umbrella in the fiscal year and partly due to net job additions of 850,000, Boutros-Ghali said.

He said this number included jobs made vacant by retirement.

Egypt has long had a thriving informal economy where workers have little or no access to insurance and other benefits.

There were 15.9 million Egyptians insured in 2007, according to the government statistics agency CAPMAS.

As part of a broader reform, the government is seeking to deepen insurance and pension coverage by reducing the burden of contributions and increasing the value of pensions.