Egypt Watch

External debt rises to more than $112 billion

The Central Bank of Egypt announced that Egypt’s external debt amounted to $ 112.67 billion at the end of December of 2019, compared to $ 96.61 billion at the end of December 2018, an increase of $ 16.1 billion. Long-term debt amounted to about $ 101.4 billion of total debt, at 90%, while short-term debt to be repaid this year amounted to $ 11.3 billion, or 10%.

Government external debt amounted to $ 61.42 billion at the end of 2019, compared to $ 48.07 billion at the end of 2018, an increase of $ 13.4 billion. Government external debt distributed by EGP 596 billion ($38.3 billion) of interest and about EGP 375 billion ($24.1 billion).

The external debt owed by the Central Bank amounted to $ 27.85 billion at the end of 2019, compared to $ 28.3 billion at the end of 2018, including $ 3.15 billion as short-term debt. The external debt owed by banks increased by $ 1.1 billion during 2019, to reach $ 8.74 billion at the end of the year, compared to $ 7.69 billion at the end of 2018.

Thus, the external debt in Egypt has jumped by 145%, since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014, as foreign debt at the time was not more than $ 46 billion.