Sound Budgeting as a Driver of Change: A Detailed Comparative Analysis In Light of Best International Standards and Practices

This paper seeks to study the extent of soundness of managing the government budget, which, if properly prepared, could act as a key driver of change in Egypt. The study starts withevaluating the extent to which the six basic international principles of comprehensiveness, transparency, realism, consistency, coherence and accountability set by the International Monetary Fund are achieved in the Egyptian budget. It also examines the extent of consistency between the budget on the one hand and the constitution and the state’s economic and social plan on the other hand. Section II of the study conducts a detailed comparative analysis of revenues and expenditures during the period 2010/2011 – 2021/2022 (various years), as well as an evaluation of projects funded by grants and loans. The aim is to clearly identify the sources and uses of public money in Egypt. Finally, Section III reviews the most important problems revealed by the analysis and the proposed solutions to address them.