Egypt’s external debt decreases by $14 billion in 5 months

Egypt's external debt has decreased to $153.9 billion at the end of May 2024, compared to $168 billion at the end of last year, according to an official statement quoting an anonymous central bank official. Egypt received $35 billion in Emirati support in March through the 'Rass Al-Hikma' deal, including an $11 billion deposit with the Central Bank that was converted into investments. The statement indicated that the decrease of $14 billion over a period of 5 months is the largest decrease in the country's external debt history. In parallel, the Central Bank's net foreign reserves reached an all-time high of $46.4 billion in June 2024, an increase of $13.25 billion since August 2022, according to the statement. It was indicated that the current reserves can cover about 7.9 months of the country's goods imports. The official source noted a huge growth in foreign currency inflows into the local market by about 200 percent, including an increase of more than 100 percent in remittances from Egyptians abroad, compared to their levels before the unification of the exchange rate. The increase in hard currency inflows contributed to eliminating the Central Bank's foreign assets deficit, recording a surplus of $10.3 billion in June 2024, compared to a deficit of $11.4 billion in January 2024, according to the official, who also pointed to an improvement in the net foreign assets of banks operating in Egypt, recording $4.6 billion in May 2024, compared to negative $17.6 billion for the same month last year. This means that the net foreign assets of the Central Bank and banks reached $14.9 billion. Source: State Information Service Egypt