Egypt’s total external debt jumped to $125.3 billion by the end of the first quarter (Q1) of the current FY2020/2021, up about $1.8 billion year-on-year, according to the Central Bank of Egypt.
In its quarterly report on Egypt’s external position, CBE attributed this rise to the increase in net disbursements of loans and facilities by $0.4 billion, together with the depreciation of the US dollar exchange rate versus other currencies of external debt, which led to an increase of $1.4 billion in book value.
According to the report, long-term external debt surged to $113 billion (accounting for 90.2 percent of total external debt) by end of Q1 of FY2020/21, up by about $0.4 billion compared to end of June 2020.
Meanwhile, the report showed that short-term debt increased by about $1.4 billion to reach about $12.3 billion – 9.8 percent of total external debt.
Its ratio to net international reserves edged up to 32.1 percent at end of the Q1 of FY2020/21, up from 28.5 percent at end of June 2020, according to the report.
Egypt’s debt-service ratio registered 44.7 percent in the Q1 of FY2020/21, it said.
However, external debt remains within manageable limits, and its position continues to have a favorable structure, as 90.2 percent of the debt is long-term, it added.
