Egypt’s foreign debt expected to reach $102bn after implementation of reforms: IMF

Mohamed Samir
2 Min Read

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated in its Egypt report that it expected Egypt’s foreign debt to rise to $102.4bn, which is more than 25% of the total GDP by 2020/2021. The increase is expected following the loans granted by the IMF and other financial institutions to fund the government’s economic reform programme.

Egypt’s foreign debt had reached the $55.7bn mark in fiscal year (FY) 2015/2016. The IMF forecast that it would increase to reach $66bn by the end of FY 2016/2017. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has announced that foreign debt had reached $60bn in the first quarter of FY 2016/2017.

Moreover, the IMF estimated that the financial gap, which is the difference between Egypt’s foreign currency needs and its actual revenues, to be $35bn. According to the IMF, half of the gap is a result of the CBE’s need to replenish foreign currency reserves.

Egypt has secured full financing for FY 2016/2017 through the loans provided by the World Bank, the IMF, China, Afreximbank, and others. The IMF believes that the financing gaps for FY 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 will be lower, and that they can be covered through multilateral support, rollovers of some maturing liabilities, and little fresh financing.

The IMF estimates Egypt’s foreign debt to reach $98.7bn by the end of the economic reform programme in FY 2019/2020, while it is expected to reach the $102.4bn mark by the end of 2020/2021, which is the year expected to bear the fruits of the reforms.

On the other hand, the domestic debt according to the government’s plan is expected to reach 76% of the total GDP by FY 2020/2021.

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Mohamed Samir Khedr is an economic and political journalist, analyst, and editor specializing in geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean. For the past decade, he has covered Egypt's and the MENA region's financial, business, and geopolitical updates. Currently, he is the Executive Editor of the Daily News Egypt, where he leads a team of journalists in producing high-quality, in-depth reporting and analysis on the region's most pressing issues. His work has been featured in leading international publications. Samir is a highly respected expert on the Middle East and Africa, and his insights are regularly sought by policymakers, academics, and business leaders. He is a passionate advocate for independent journalism and a strong believer in the power of storytelling to inform and inspire. Twitter: https://twitter.com/Moh_S_Khedr LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-samir-khedr/
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