This “Fragile Five” stuff is rooted in our debt profile, leading us to note that Egypt’s foreign debt eased fractionally to USD 80 bn in September, down from USD 81 bn in August, but up from July’s USD 79 bn, central bank sources tell Al Borsa. Egypt recently paid off the final USD 200 mn installment of a USD 1 bn it obtained from Turkey in 2012, as well as a USD 250 mn installment to Libya for a USD 1.5 bn loan, of which a final installment of USD 500 mn will be repaid in 2018. Egypt is planning to repay a total USD 8.134 in loans during 4Q2017, including a USD 5.2 bn payment to the African Export-Import Bank before the end of December, which is expected to reduce foreign obligations significantly, central bank Governor Tarek Amer had said.

Slimming down the debt: The Finance Ministry is reportedly working on a two-year strategy to reduce Egypt’s foreign and domestic debt levels.

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