Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait in talks to extend deposit maturity

Egypt is negotiating with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to extend the maturity of deposits for a new term, high-level government sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Friday without disclosing the details of the extension.

The two deposits are worth US$4 billion each and are due for recovery this year. The negotiations follow the approval of the renewal of a US$2.6 billion UAE deposit that Egypt received in 2013 and will be due this year, which has been renewed for a further five years.

The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, estimated the amount of Arab deposits that Egypt has received between US$25 billion and US$30 billion.

Egypt is expected to pay about US$13 billion in foreign liabilities until the end of 2018, while the sources confirmed the central bank’s commitment to repay debts and external liabilities on time, noting that some external commitments will be renewed and ensure cash flows during the coming period.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) stated on Wednesday that Egypt’s total foreign debt jumped to US$80.8 billion by end of December 2017, witnessing an increase of US$1.8 billion, compared to the end of June 2017.

Foreign debts rose by 2.3 percent by the end of 2017, compared to the end of 2016 in which the debts amounted to US$67 billion, the CBE revealed.

Source: Al-Masry Al-Youm