CAIRO: Egypt’s external debt surged to $48.06 billion by the end of June, marking an $8.2 billion hike from $39.9 billion at March-end, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced in a Monday report.
The rise was mainly driven by receiving Gulf deposits worth $6 billion, namely from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Egypt’s Gulf allies promised a total of $12.5 billion in aid and investments to Cairo during the three-day economic summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh March 13-15.
Central Bank’s reported last week that Egypt’s net international reserves extended its dip for three consecutive months to hit $16.3 billion at September-end, down from $18.1 billion a month earlier.
“The drop reflects continued dependence of Egypt’s balance of payments on external donor support, which is credit negative for the country’s external liquidity position,” global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors stated in a Monday report.