Egypt signed an agreement with the Italian government to swap a third tranche of debts worth $100 million.
Faiza Aboul Naga, the Egyptian minister of planning and international cooperation, said Egypt’s external debt fell last year to $33 billion from $35 billion.
In other respect, the United States’ pledge to relieve Egypt of $1 billion of debt through a swap procedure is delayed for the time being because the two countries differ in their understanding of the swap mechanism, Aboul Naga told Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper.