Foreign investment in Egypt’s debt market climbed to USD 8.4 bn since the EGP float, Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk tells Reuters. Foreigners had bought EGP 145.5 bn worth of treasuries on 6 June, according to the Finance Ministry’s head of public debt Sami Khallaf, the newswire adds. This comes as Egypt managed to attract USD 6.8 bn in foreign direct investment from January to April 2017, Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr said, according to a ministry statement. Separately, Egypt’s primary budget deficit for the current fiscal year is expected to stand at EGP 60 bn in FY2016-17, coming in at around 1.7-1.8% of total GDP, according to Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk, AMAY reports. This figure is down from 3.6% last year and an average of 6% in previous years, Kouchouk adds. The government is looking to turn things and is targeting a surplus of EGP 11 bn in FY2017-18 — around 0.3% of GDP, according to the budget draft.

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