The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed that Egypt’s external debt increased to $109.3bn at the end of September, a growth of $600m (0.6%) compared to June 2019.
The CBE stated in its monthly report on Sunday that this increase came as a result of increasing net loans and facilities by about $1.7bn and a decrease in the exchange rates of most of the currencies against the US dollar by about $1.1bn.
Regarding the external debt service, the CBE stated that it amounted to about $2.9bn from July to September 2019, of which about $1.7bn was paid in instalments, and $1.2bn was paid in interest.
According to the CBE, the external debt ratio to the gross domestic product (GDP) decreased to 34.4%, which is still within safe limits according to international standards.
The CBE indicated that about 89.9% of the total external debt due on Egypt is long-term, which is after 12 months, which amounted to $98.33bn, while the remainder of $11.034bn is in short-term debt, that is expiring in less than 12 months.
The external debt is distributed at $58.863bn due on the government, $27.68bn from the Central Bank of Egypt, $9.2bn owed by banks other than the CBE, and $13.61bn from the remaining sectors.
The foreign debt owed by the government includes $18.89bn in international bonds and $39.96bn in loans.
In a related context, the CBE revealed that the total domestic public debt reached EGP 4.18trn by the end of September 2019, which is equivalent to about 66.8% of the gross domestic product, compared to EGP 4.28trn at the end of June 2019, a decrease of EGP 102.8bn.
The CBE indicated that 87.4% of the total domestic debt is due by the government, equivalent to EGP 3.65trn, a decrease of EGP 72.7bn during the period from July to September 2019.
It added that 6% of the total debt is due on economic public bodies, equivalent to EGP 251.3bn, a decrease of EGP 31.6bn, and 6.6% due on the National Investment Bank, equivalent to EGP 276.5bn, an increase of EGP 1.4bn.
