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Egypt's foreign debts decline to 41.3 bln USD in 2015 Q2

Xinhua, May 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Egypt's total foreign debt declined to 41.3 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of the 2014/2015 fiscal year compared to 44.8 billion dollars in the first quarter, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in its most recent report released earlier this month.

The report showed that the total foreign debt owed by the country in the fourth quarter of the 2013/2014 fiscal year stood at 46.1 billion dollars, which means that it has declined by 10.3 percent since then to reach 41.3 billion dollars.

Egypt's economy has been ailing over the past four years due to political turmoil and instability that resulted from two popular uprisings that toppled two heads of state.

The country's foreign debt increased by about seven billion dollars as it was about 34 billion dollars before the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.

"The Egyptian authorities has recently paid off about three billion dollars of its dues in the form of bonds and deposits, which affirms the commitment and ability of the Egyptian economy to pay off its foreign obligations," the CBE explained in a recent press release on economic performance during the first half of the 2014/2015 fiscal year.

Right before the 2011 uprising, Egypt had 36 billion dollars of foreign currency reserves in the central bank, but lost about 20 billion dollars over the past chaotic four years.

Egypt has recently received six billion dollars of aid this month by supporting oil-rich Gulf states to assist the country's deteriorating economy, raising the foreign currency reserves to exceed 20 billion dollars.

Since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2013, Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, assisted Egypt with billions of dollars to help the country stabilize.

Egypt still suffers a budget deficit of 31.5 billion dollars for the 2014/2015 fiscal year, representing ten percent of the gross domestic product, comparing with the 12 percent budget deficit for the 2013/2014 fiscal year.

However, the country's credit rating improved as the country's debt was upgraded in late 2014 from B- to B by Fitch Ratings, which praised the government's efforts to reduce budget deficits. Enditem