Egypt's External Debt Drops by $7.4 bn to $160.6 Bn

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) data showed on Tuesday that the external debt fell by $7.4 billion in the first three months of 2024.

Egypt's finances received a boost in late February when it sold development rights to land in the Ras al-Hikma area overlooking the Mediterranean to the United Arab Emirates in a deal worth $35 billion.

Egypt's total external debt fell to $160.6 billion at the end of March from $168 billion at the end of December and $164.5 billion at the end of September, the central bank data showed.

Egypt's external debt has quadrupled since 2015 as it spent on building a new capital, developing infrastructure, buying weapons and propping up the local currency.

Egypt signed an $8 billion support package with the International Monetary Fund in March in which it pledged to maintain a flexible exchange rate. The fund disbursed a first tranche of $820 million in March, while the remaining tranches will be disbursed in semi-annual installments until September 2026.

The central bank said external debt, 84.2% of which is long-term, was equivalent to 39.8% of GDP, down from about 43% in December.