Egypts external debt hits $137.9bln in June: CBE

ArabFinance: Egypts external debt hiked by $14.4 billion to $137.9 billion in June 2021, compared to $123.5 billion in June 2020, according to recent data by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

The bank attributed the increase in debt to the rise in net disbursements of loans and facilities by $12.2 billion, alongside the depreciation of the exchange rate of US dollar vis--vis other currencies of external debt, leading to an increase of $2.2 billion in book value.

Long-term debt amounted to $124.2 billion accounting for 90.1% of the total external debt, whereas short-term debt stood at $13.7 billion, or 9.9%.

By residual maturity, short-term debt accounted for 26.6% of total external debt in June 2021, compared to 9.9% classified by original maturity.

Meanwhile, long-term debt expressed in terms of residual maturity made up 73.4% of total external debt, in comparison to 90.1% based on original maturity.

By the end of June 2021, long-term external debt registered $124.2 billion (90.1% of total external debt), up by about $11.6 billion compared to the end of June 2020; of which: reached about $50.0 billion, up by $7.0 billion, as compared to end-June 2020.

The increase reflected new loans; chiefly from the IMF ($3.2 billion representing 2nd & 3rd tranches of the Standby Agreement SBA), from the European Investment Bank ($1.7 billion), and from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development ($400 million).

Buyers and suppliers credit reached about $12.8 billion, up by $1.4 billion. Other bilateral debts amounted to some $11.4 billion, up by $1.1 billion.

Repurchase agreements (Repo) recorded $4bn in June 2021, up by $86.4 million. Bonds issued abroad (non-resident holdings) reached $28.7 billion, up by $4.8 billion.

Bonds outstanding stock as of June 2021 includes: Roughly $23.1 billion of Eurobonds issued in US dollar, about $737.2 million of green bonds issued in US dollar, about $4.5 billion of Eurobonds denominated in euro; and about $355.4 million of sovereign notes.

Meanwhile, long-term deposits placed at the CBE by some Arab countries decreased to $15.0 billion, down by $2.2 billion. These deposits are distributed as follows: $5.7 billion by the United Arab Emirates; $5.3 billion by Saudi Arabia; and $4 billion by Kuwait.

Rescheduled bilateral debt reached around $1.9 billion, down by $0.6 billion. Non-guaranteed debt of the private sector registered $391.9 million, down by $29.9 million.

Short-term debt increased by about $2.8 billion to about $13.7 billion or 9.9% of total external debt. Its ratio to net international reserves edged up to 33.8% in June 2021 from 28.5% in June 2020.