Egypt's foreign debt rises

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Egypt's foreign debt to gross domestic product ratio, however, is 'still within the safe limits according to international standards'.

Cairo - Figures hits $82.9B at end-December, up 4.9% compared to 6 months earlier

By Reuters

Published: Fri 1 Jun 2018, 6:08 PM

Last updated: Fri 1 Jun 2018, 8:10 PM

Egypt's foreign debts reached around $82.9 billion, for the period ending December 2017, rising by 4.9 per cent compared to 6 months earlier, the Central Bank of Egypt revealed in a report.
The CBE, however, maintains that the foreign debt to gross domestic product ratio is "still within the safe limits according to international standards", standing at 36.1 per cent. Egypt's foreign debts reached $67.3 billion in December 2016.
The report comes as the government presses ahead with an economic reform program that has included slashing fuel and electricity subsidies, imposing a value-added tax and a currency floatation. The measures were taken in order to qualify for a three-year $12 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund, which it secured in 2016. A new round of fuel subsidy cuts is expected soon.
Egypt's economy is still recovering. Tough austerity measures, aimed at rebuilding the economy after the unrest, have hit poor and middle-class Egyptians hard.
Earlier in May, the IMF said in its latest review that "Egypt has begun to reap the benefits of its ambitious and politically difficult economic reform programme". It highlighted Egypt's growth rate of 5.2 per cent in the first half of fiscal year 2017-18, up from 4.2 per cent for the same period in 2016-17.
The IMF also pointed to the inflation rate dropping to 13.1 per cent in April after it had peaked during the summer of 2017, hovering at around 30 per cent.
Egypt's foreign reserves have continued to increase since it secured the IMF loan in 2016. They currently exceed $44 billion by April's end, their level highest level since December 2010.