CAIRO: Egypt’s government intends to borrow 281.5 billion EGP ($36 billion) in treasury bills and bonds during the second quarter of fiscal year 2015/2016, Finance Ministry data showed.
The figure marks an increase of 67 billion EGP, from 214.5 billion EGP planned a year earlier.
In the first quarter of FY 2015/2016, the Central Bank of Egypt raised around 263 billion EGP from the domestic market to cover the state budget deficit, which is projected to reach 8.9 percent of GDP in the revised budget for this fiscal year.
Egypt’s public debt is forecast to hit 2.55 trillion EGP in the current fiscal year, comprising 90 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP,) data posted on the ministry’s website showed.
Public debt services’ expenses comprise around 28 percent of total public spending.
Domestic debt is projected to reach 2.368 billion EGP during this fiscal year, around 83.5 percent of GDP, while foreign debt is expected to hit 182.8 billion EGP, representing 6.5 percent of GDP
The government has stated it is committed to pay off interests on public debt estimated at 244 billion EGP in the new budget, an increase of 25.1 percent compared with last year.