On Thursday, the Central Bank of Egypt announced that Egypt would sell $540 million in dollar-denominated treasury bills in an auction on June 6. Last April, the bank sold one-year dollar treasury bills at about $1.017 billion. Standard & Poor’s had expected Egypt to become the largest issuer of sovereign debt among emerging markets, with issuances amounting to $73 billion this year. According to the financial services company, Egypt has expanded significantly in issuing sovereign bonds over the past years.
The country’s external debt rose by $14.3 billion during the 2020-2021 fiscal year to reach $137.85 billion at the end of June 2021, compared to $123.49 billion at the end of June 2020, an increase of 11.57%, according to the Central Bank.
According to the World Bank, Egypt’s debt has increased by nearly 200% since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi officially took office. It jumped from $36.77 billion at the end of 2010 to about $131.58 billion at the end of 2020, increasing 257%.
