Egyptian government debt has increased by around 12 per cent in the first half of the 2019-2020 fiscal year to EGP 513 billion, compared to EGP 460.1 billion last year. A semi-annual report issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Finance showed that bonds worth EGP 422.6 billion were issued in the first half of the current fiscal year, which ended on December 31, compared to EGP 323.6 billion a year ago, an increase of 31 per cent, while treasury bills worth EGP 90.4 billion were issued against EGP 136.5 billion last year, down by 34 per cent. The high burden of loan interest payments contributed to raising Egypt’s budget deficit during the same period to 3.8 per cent, and the government expected to increase local borrowing in the 2019-2020 budget by 45 per cent to EGP 725.156 billion.

The Central Bank of Egypt stated in a previous report, that the burdens of external debt service increased to about EGP 13.4 billion during the fiscal year 2018/2019, compared to about EGP 13.25 billion in the previous year. The total external public debt due, as of the end of September, was $109.363 billion, an increase of 17.47 per cent on an annual basis.