Egypt’s finances, in havoc from political strife since the 2011 popular uprising, worsened in the first five months of 2013, with the budget deficit widening to almost half of all state spending.
Foreign reserves fell to $ 14.9bn in June, representing less than the three months of imports that the International Monetary Fund considers to be a minimum safe cushion. Only about half of the reserves are in the form of cash or in securities that can be spent easily. The mounting distress pushed Mursi to approve a 24.2 percent increase in borrowing to finance the budget deficit days before he was deposed, a law published in the official gazette yesterday showed.
