Egypt to borrow $9bn next financial year

Egypt aims to obtain $9 billion in foreign financing in the fiscal year 2017-18, the Deputy Finance Minister, Ahmed Kouchouk, revealed today.

In an interview with the Cairo-based Al-Borsa, Kouchouk explained that the funding is divided between $3 billion obtained from debt markets and between $5-6 billion from international financial institutions.

Egypt’s financial year runs from the start of July to the end of June.

Kouchouk added that the $3 billion from debt markets could come in the form of Eurobonds denominated in dollars or other currencies.

Read: Egypt received $1 billion from World Bank 

Egypt is also expected to receive additional tranches of loans from the World Bank and African Development Bank in 2017-18, which together total $1.5 billion.

Since the past four years, Egypt has been relying on foreign financing amid foreign currency crisis.

Last September, Egypt’s foreign debt reached $60.152 billion compared to $46.148 billion during the same month of 2015, marking an increase of $14 billion, according to official data from the Central Bank of Egypt.