Egypt confirms its determination to maintain the decline in the value of external debt

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly discussed, this evening, at the government headquarters in New Alamein City, with Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk, efforts to reduce public debt and sustain its downward path as a percentage of the gross domestic product; in light of what the government is adopting in this regard.

Counselor Mohamed El-Homosany, the official spokesman for the Egyptian Cabinet, said in a statement today that Madbouly stressed during the meeting his special interest in the file of reducing public debt rates as a percentage of the gross domestic product.

He noted that the government has already begun to reduce the value of the external debt during the past months, and intends to continue and maintain this approach in the medium and long term, stressing that this has been achieved in light of the Egyptian state’s commitment to paying the due debt installments on their specified dates.

Al-Homsi added that the meeting witnessed the confirmation that the government is committed to achieving financial discipline, which contributes to moving the budget agencies’ debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product on its planned downward path.

The spokesman pointed out that the Minister of Finance confirmed during the meeting that he is working according to an integrated program to reduce government debt in the medium term, reduce the cost of debt, diversify the investor base, currencies and markets, and extend the life of the debt in order to enhance the degree of confidence in the Egyptian economy.

In this context, the Minister of Finance, according to the statement, put forward proposals to reduce the internal debt rate of the budget agencies, and a number of measures that achieve the state’s goals in this regard.

The latest data from the Central Bank of Egypt on external debt, last week, showed a decline of $7.4 billion in the first three months of 2024.

Egypt’s total external debt amounted to $160.6 billion by the end of March, down from $168 billion at the end of December and $164.5 billion at the end of September, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt.

Source: RT