Egypt’s external debt rose again in the first quarter of 2022: at the end of March last year, it amounted to $157.8 billion compared to $145.592 billion at the end of December last year.
The increase in Egypt’s external debt for the first three months of this year amounted to 8.4 percent, according to data published on Saturday on the official website of the World Bank.
Egypt’s external debt has grown at an accelerated pace in recent years, reaching $134,841 billion in the first quarter of last year, an increase of $22,841 billion, or about 17 percent, over the year.
Egypt’s external debt stood at $111.292 billion in the first quarter of 2020, down $46.508 billion from its level in the first quarter of 2022.
Egypt’s overall budget suffers from the burden of public debt (external and domestic), as the debt burden accounts for about 54 percent of the total use of the state budget.
Earlier, Egypt began negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a loan to support its economy in the face of the economic consequences of the crisis in Eastern Europe.
In late 2016, Egypt entered into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund under which it received a loan of $12 billion for three years in exchange for Egypt’s economic reforms, including exchange rate liberalization, the removal of fuel subsidies and the introduction of a value added tax.
It also received another loan after the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic to counter the economic impact of the epidemic, worth about $8 billion.
Source: “Sputnik”