Egypt's budget deficit widened to 11.2 per cent of gross domestic product in the first 11 months of the financial year, up from 10.8 percent a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

In its monthly report, the ministry said the budget deficit stood at 311 billion Egyptian pounds ($35.02 billion) between July 2015 and May 2016, compared to 261.9 billion pounds in the same period a year ago.

Egypt's financial year runs from July 1 to June 30.

Egypt has been struggling to stem an economic crisis caused in part by an acute foreign currency shortage and surging inflation.

The foreign currency shortage has battered Egypt, which depends on imports for everything from food to fuel. In March, the central bank devalued the pound to 8.78 per dollar.

Real GDP growth for the first nine months reached 4.3 percent versus 4.8 percent in the same period a year earlier, the Planning Ministry said in a separate document earlier on Monday. - Reuters