Egypt’s Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that the government has identified sources for providing external financing needs until the end of the current fiscal year in June, which are estimated at $4 billion.
In a press statement on Saturday, the minister noted that the Egyptian economy is still capable of securing external financing needs, after Fitch Agency lowered Egypt’s sovereign credit rating in local and foreign currencies from “B” to “B-” with a stable long-term outlook. .
He added that Egypt paid $52 billion in foreign obligations during the past two years “despite the extremely severe global economic challenges.”
Maait pointed out “the possibility of Egypt obtaining about $5 billion annually on favorable terms from multilateral development banks,” despite the “geopolitical tensions that place extreme pressure on the budgets of various countries.”
He added that foreign investment flows amounted to $10 billion during the last fiscal year, and is expected to rise to $12 billion this year with the expansion of the implementation of the “government proposals” program, which aims to empower the private sector and encourage it to increase its contributions to economic and development activity.
The Fitch report had indicated a surge in the risks of external financing for Egypt, in light of the increasing cost of financing and interest rates, the decline in the price of the pound against the dollar coinciding with the maturity date of external obligations, and the rise in government debt indicators.
