Egypt external debts jump to $71.8bn in February: planning minister

Egypt’s Minister of Planning Hala El-Said said Thursday that Egypt’s external debts reached $71.8 billion by the end of February, compared with $67.32 billion at the end of December.

External debts rose by $4.47 billion during January and February, El-Said added at a conference held after the Cabinet’s meeting.

In January, the Egyptian government issued international bonds worth $4 billion amid wide demand from the global financing institutions.

On 3 November, Egypt free floated the foreign exchange rate under the economic reform plan, and ahead of receiving the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan of $12 billion.

Domestic public debt rose 23.3 percent year-on-year by the end of the first nine months of the financial year 2016/2017, according to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) data.

Source: Mubasher