Egypt’s foreign debt reaches 17.6% of total GDP

Egypt’s foreign debt rose to 17.6 per cent of total GDP by the end of the financial year 2015/2016, compared to 14.8 per cent last year, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed yesterday.

The Central Bank of Egypt announced that the country’s external debt reached $7.7 billion during the last financial year.

In a monthly report released on yesterday, the CBE attributed the rise in foreign debt to the increase in the net usage of credit facilities, which reached about $7.4 billion, in addition to the increase in currency exchange rates.

Egypt’s medium and long-term foreign debts for the last financial year amounted to $5.2 billion.

The Egyptian government is awaiting final approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a $12 billion loan for three years.

Egypt has been suffering from a severe shortage in foreign currency as a result of the decline in tourism revenues, foreign investment, exports and Egyptian remittances from abroad.