Egypt’s external debt increased to $134.8 billion by the end of March 2021, an increase of about $11.3 billion from June 2020, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
In its ‘External Position of the Egyptian Economy’ report, the CBE attributed the increase to the rise in net disbursements of loans and facilities by $9.6 billion as well as the depreciation of the US dollar exchange rate vis-a-vis other currencies of external debt, which led to an increase of $1.7 billion in book value.
For long-term external debt, the report revealed that it rose to $121.5 billion — representing 90.2 percent of Egypt’s total external debt by the end of March 2021 — up by about $8.9 billion compared to the end of June 2020.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s short-term debt increased by about $2.4 billion to post $13.3 billion — accounting for 9.8 percent of the country’s total external debt — according to the report.
This debt type’s net international reserves also inched up to 32.9 percent at the end of March 2021 from 28.5 percent by the end of June 2020, according to the report.
The government remains the main obligor of all debts, accounting for around 59.7 percent of Egypt’s external debt, as it rose by $11.1 billion at the end of March 2021 compared to June 2020, reaching $80.5 billion, according to the report.
Egyptian banks’ external debt also went up by about $1.8 billion to record $13.8 billion by the end of the third quarter (3Q) (July-March) of FY2020/2021.
On the other hand, the report showed that the debt services that Egypt must pay declined to $10.8 billion — down from $13.7 billion by the end of the same quarter of FY2019/20 — with installments repayment amounting to $7.7 billion and paid interest set at $3.1 billion by the end of the 3Q of FY2020/21.
