finance]
EGYPT 699 i/E.2,342,000 was pledged for the execution of various account of the debt, and the administrative expenditure, works in course of progress, leaving an unpledged balance as authorized by the London convention and subsequent of £E. 1,187,000. Out of the total amount advanced, arrangements, to £E.6,195,000. There remained, there£E. 2,305,000 was granted for drainage and irrigation fore, a sum of £E. 1,854,000 to be divided between the works, <£E.2,669,000 for improving the state railways, Government and the general reserve fund. In virtue of <£E. 1,113,000 for the construction of public buildings, &c., certain agreements made with the Powers, the share of the and <£E.647,000 for the relief of taxation. The unem- Government, originally fixed at one-half by the London ployed balance of the fund, including the portion that is convention, is increased by £E. 45,000, and therefore pledged but has not yet been actually advanced, is invested amounted to £E.972,000. From this must be deducted in Egyptian stocks. The special reserve fund was con- the difference between the real and the authorized exstituted in 1886, and is chiefly made up out of the net penditure, namely, £E.413,000, so that the real surplus at savings of the Government on its share of the annual the disposal of the Egyptian Government was £E.559,000. surpluses. This fund is at the absolute disposal of the On the other hand, the amount received by the general Egyptian Government. Since its creation the total re- reserve fund must be reduced by the contribution of ceipts have amounted to £E. 4,815,000. At the end of £E. 216,000 to the ordinary revenue to which allusion has 1900 extraordinary expenditure to the amount of already been made. The actual amount paid into the £E. 4,006,000 had been charged to this fund, leaving an general reserve fund was, therefore, £E.666,000 (the apparent balance of £E.809,000. As, however, further half-share £E.927,000 - £E.45,000 - £E.216,000). To expenditure amounting to £E. 50,000 had been authorized, sum up in an intelligible manner the results of this comalthough not actually incurred, when the accounts of 1900 plicated system, the real surplus revenue of the country were closed, the real state of the fund was a surplus of amounted to £E. 1,552,000, of which £E.559,000 belongs o£E.759,000. The whole of the extraordinary expenditure to the Egyptian Government, £E.666,000 increases the of the Sudan campaign, with the exception of the amount general^ reserve fund, £E.265,000, representing the granted on this account by the British Government, was economies of the conversion of the preference stock, is charged to the special reserve fund, amounting, in round paid into the economies fund, and £E.62,000 is devoted figures, to £E. 1,500,000. The principal remaining items to sinking fund. that have been debited to this fund are £E. 758,000 for The chief item of revenue is the land-tax, which brought commutation of pensions and £E.350,000 for reproductive 111 000* T^e cultivated area paying taxes amounts works. to 5,541,000 feddans,1 so that the average tax per feddan is A third fund is formed by the accumulation of the 788 milliemes ( = 15s. 4d.). The customs (including the economies resulting from the conversion of the privileged, duty on tobacco) produced £E. 2,418,000, and the railways Conversion I:)omains> and Daira loans in 1890. As already £E. 2,159,000. These three heads of revenue account for economies, explained, this fund cannot be employed with- £E. 8,944,000, equal to 77 per cent, of the total receipts. out the assent of the Powers. Up to the end The actual revenue collected amounted to £E. 11,447,000, of 1899 none of the numerous proposals submitted by of which a certain proportion consists of receipts from adEgypt had proved acceptable to the French Government. ministrations rendering direct service to the public, such In the meantime, the annual' economies, amounting, in as. the railways, telegraphs, post office, etc. The net re1900, to £E.307,000, together with the interest on the ceipts from these latter services do not yield more than a accumulations of the past, were invested in Egyptian stocks normal return on the capital that has been expended on by the Caisse de la Dette, and on the 31st December 1900 them. Deducting these and certain other items of revenue, the value of the fund amounted to c£E.4,002,000. This which are also not taxation properly so called, such as system virtually acts as a sinking fund, but one of a very rents from state property, the total amount paid by the expensive nature for the Egyptian Government, inasmuch Egyptian taxpayer works out to £E.8,502,000, or 813 as bonds vyhich the Government have the legal right to milliemes (= 15s. lOd.) per head of the population, as compay off at par are purchased at the market price, which pared with £E.D014 ( = £1, 0s. 9d.) in 1883. is, and appears likely to remain, considerably above par. The total expenditure in 1900 was £E.l 1,104,000. While on this branch of the subject it may be of interest Under the existing system of accounts, first introduced in to refer to a passage in Lord Cromer’s annual report for 1896, this figure includes (1) a sum of £E.265,000, being 1898, in which, after giving an approximate estimate the annual economy resulting from the conversion of the of the annual charges unnecessarily borne by Egypt, he preference debt j (2) a sum of £E.62,000 paid into sinking concludes by stating that, “broadly speaking, it is no fund; and (3) a sum of £E.882,000, being the amount exaggeration to say that internationalism imposes an paid to the general reserve fund. As already explained, extra charge of about £1,750,000 a year on the Egyptian £E.216,000 of the latter sum is repaid to the Government treasury.” on account of the reduction of the land-tax. The balance In conclusion, it may be useful to give a brief analysis of £E.9,895,000 represents the effective expenditure of the of the latest published accounts, namely, those for 1900. year. The details of this expenditure may be summarized Egy tian Til? total avenue amounts to £E. 11,663,000, in as follows:— Budget. which figure is included an annual contribution J. Charges on account of the tribute and the debt £E.4 of £E. 216,000 from the general reserve fund, 2. Expenditure on railways, telegraphs, post office, the result of an arrangement with the Powers to make ^ and other revenue-paying departments . 1,295,000 good to the Government a reduction of the land-tax to 3. Khedivial civil list and allowances to the that amount. This item is therefore not real revenue, but Khedivial family 258,000 4. Administration ...... a mere transfer. Of the above revenue £E.7,339,000 ,228,000 5. Army (including the expenses of the army of was assigned to the service of the debt and was occupation) ....... 807,000 paid into the Caisse de la Dette, and the balance, 6. Pensions ........ 433,000 7. Suppression of the corvee .... £E.4,324,000, was received directly by the Government 400,000 8. Sudan deficit . treasury. The service of the debt, including the economies 134,000 of the conversion of the preference stock, amounted to ' Total 9,895,000 £E. 3,614,000, which figure is exclusive of a sum of j £E. 181,000 charged to the administrative budget on i 1 The feddan is practically equivalent to the English acre.
