Egypt’s government debt to the GDP declined to 91% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019, down from 100% during the same period of 2018, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in a report.
The state’s household debt to the GDP slightly decreased to 7.2% in Q1 of 2019, compared to 7.4% in the same period of 2018, the report added.
The financial sector debt remained unchanged at 5.9% of the GDP in Q2 of 2018, compared to the same period a year ago, while the non-financial corporate debt to the GDP also decreased to 25.1% during Q1 of 2019, versus 27.2% in Q1 of 2018.
Notably, the government debt to the GDP in Egypt averaged 87.91% from 2002 until 2018, reaching an all-time high of 102.30% in 2003 and a record low of 73.30% in 2009, according to trading economics.
Moreover, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) report stated that in 2018, the public debt reached EGP 3.695tn at the end of June 2018, representing 83.3% of the GDP, and growing by 17% year-over-year (y-o-y). The government’s portion of the debt is 84.4%.
Meanwhile, the ministry of finance aims to reduce the ratio of the debt to the GDP to 93% in June 2019 and then to 88% in June 2020, to reach 80% in June 2022 in light of targeting an annual first surplus of 2% of the GDP and achieving annual growth rates of more than 6% in the medium term.
In terms of the global debt, the IIF`s report declared that the global debt recorded $246.5 in Q1 of 2019, compared to 248.5 in Q1 of 2018.
The emerging markets (EM) debt hit a record high of $69tn (216% of the GDP), versus $68.9tn a year ago. according to the report.
“The rise in overall debt-to-the-GDP ratios since Q1 of 2018 has been most significant in Chile, Korea, Brazil, South Africa, Pakistan, and China,” the report explained.
In contrast, the IIF stated that Ukraine, Egypt, the UAE, Hungary, and Lebanon have all reduced total debt ratios during the past year.
Concerning mature markets, the IIF noted that the total debt in mature markets rose by $1.6tn in Q1 of 2019 and now stands close to $177.4tn, compared to $179.6tn in Q1 of 2018.
