Egypt’s debt service costs projected at $22.46B in 2025: CBE

CAIRO - 4 December 2024: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has reported that the cost of debt service for 2025 is expected to reach $22.46 billion, marking a $900 million increase from earlier estimates. This includes $13.78 billion in the first half of the year and $8.66 billion in the second half.  

 

Egypt’s total external debt saw a significant decline, dropping by $7.7 billion in the second quarter of 2024 to $152.9 billion in June, compared to $160.6 billion in March. 

 

Long-term external debt fell by $8.6 billion to $126.9 billion, representing 83 percent of the total external debt, down from 84.2 percent. 

 

As of June 2024, short-term debt stood at $52.8 billion, while long-term debt amounted to $100.1 billion.  

 

Arab deposits totaled $9.3 billion, including $5.3 billion from Saudi Arabia and $4 billion from Kuwait, reflecting a $5.7 billion decrease from June 2023. 

 

This reduction is largely attributed to the conversion of a UAE deposit into investments in the Ras El Hekma development project. 

 

Kuwait also extended a $2 billion deposit set to mature in April 2024, pushing the deadline to April 2025.  

 

Debt owed to multilateral institutions fell by $4 billion to $48.9 billion. External bonds and sukuk issuances were valued at $27.7 billion as of June 2024, including $19.9 billion in dollar-denominated Eurobonds, $4 billion in Eurobonds issued in euros, and $1.5 billion in dollar-denominated sukuk. 

 

Other issuances included Samurai bonds in yen, green bonds, Panda bonds in yuan, and sovereign securities.  

 

The CBE’s external debt decreased by $6.5 billion during the second quarter of 2024, reaching $34.6 billion, or 22.7 percent of the total external debt. This drop is attributed mainly to the decline in UAE short- and long-term deposits.  

 

Government long-term debt also decreased by $1 billion in the same period, standing at $80.2 billion in June. The share of government debt rose to 52.4 percent of the total external debt. On an annual basis, government debt fell by $3.2 billion, primarily due to repayments of long-term loans and three installments of externally issued bonds.