Egypt’s external debt falls to $111.3 billion in Q1

Egypt’s external debt declined for the first time in years during the first quarter of the year, recording $111.3 billion from $112.7 billion in December 2019.

The external dept to GDP ratio fell to 31.7 percent in the first quarter of this year versus 33.5 percent in December 2019, the Central Bank of Egypt said in a recent report, describing this level as the safe limit according to international measures in this regard.

Public external debt reduced to $60.4 billion in the same quarter from $61.4 billion during the fourth quarter of 2019, following the drop in the public debt, owing to bonds and T-bill offering yields, to $20.1 billion, down from $20.9 billion in December 2019.

In addition, public external debt from loans fell to $40.3 billion from $40.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, a decrease of $225.4 million, according to the report.

The central bank’s external debt decreased to $27.8 billion during the same quarter, down from $27.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, or a drop of $70.6 million, which was due to the drop in the bank’s short-term debt to around $2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2020, according to the report.