Egypt Watch

The Egyptian parliament approves a new loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea

On Tuesday, the Egyptian parliament approved a loan from the Export–Import Bank of Korea, at about $60,642,000, to finance the improvement of a train line. The loan repayment period is 40 years, with an interest rate of 1.7% and a grace period of five years.

According to the Egyptian Ministry of Finance, Egypt’s total external debt has more than quadrupled from 2011 to 2022. External debt grew by more than 19 billion US dollars during the current fiscal year. The total debt since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi came to power in 2014 has increased by more than $115 billion as a result of his expansion in borrowing to finance major projects. Egypt’s debt equalled about 35.5% of the total debt of the Middle East and North Africa region in 2020.