Egypt's foreign debts rise to 82.9 bln USD in 2017

CAIRO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's total foreign debts hit 82.9 billion U.S. dollars by the end of December 2017, marking a 4.9-percent rise in six months, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said Wednesday.

The ratio of the country's foreign debt to its GDP reached 36.1 percent by the end of the second quarter of the 2017-18 fiscal year, the CBE said in a statement.

Egypt's fiscal year starts in early July and ends in late June.

"It is still within the safe limits according to international standards," the statement noted.

Over the past few years, Egypt has been suffering economic difficulties due to political instability and relevant security issues, which led to the decline of tourism, foreign currency reserves, foreign investments and remittances of Egyptian expatriates, amid growing budget deficit, inflation rate and foreign and domestic debts.

In late 2016, Egypt started a strict three-year economic reform program supported by a 12-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund, half of which has already been delivered to the most populous Arab country. Enditem