By Mohsen Abdel Razek

Egypt's economy will continue to be affected by the world economic crisis this year, said Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali during a meeting yesterday with the vice chairman of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa.

Ghali said he expected a drop in budget revenues for the financial year 2009/2010, leading to an increase of the total deficit from 6.9per cent to 8.4per cent.

"Suez Canal and the petrol authority outcomes stepped back last year, whereas income tax revenues maintained as it was," he said.

So far the government has pumped in 23 billion LE for infrastructure projects, 15 billion of which during the last financial year and 8 billion will run in the current year.

Ghali said that the ministry expects the economy to grow from 4.5per cent to 4.7per cent during the last quarter of the financial year 2008/2009, which indicates to that the Egyptian economy will grow faster than many other countries around the world that have been affect by the crisis.

"The global crisis didn't affect the government's efforts to raise incomes and salaries during the new year, which was increased by a rate of 10per cent," Ghali said.

"There are reforms in the income and imprint tax, a new law for the real estate tax is issued, real estate properties are being surveyed and recorded for the law to be applied by next January," he added.

Regarding the loan that Egypt has signed with the World Bank for financing the railway authority innovations plans, Ghali said that the government paid 5 billion LE for the Railway authority within the last two years for its restructuring.

"The financial procedures package that the government had done for refreshing the economy during the last financial year, which was 15.5 billion LE for the infrastructure, was spent rightfully," the minister said.

(Source: Al Masry Al Youm)