Parliament approved on Sunday the Value-Added Tax (VAT) bill at a rate of 13% in FY16/17 and at 14% in FY17/18. The new tax will be implemented in September. Implementing the VAT will contribute to lower the current budget deficit by 1%, Deputy Finance Minister for tax policies Amr El Monir said. The government expects the VAT to generate EGP32bn (USD3.6bn) a year which will help finance subsidised food commodities, Takaful and Karama national social safety net programme, and social pensions to benefit 1.5mn families, he added. (Al Ahram, Amwal Al Ghad)