Egypt’s foreign debt rises to $82.9 billion

Egypt’s foreign debt rose to $82.9 billion by the end of December, up 4.9 percent compared to six months earlier, central bank data showed.

The ratio of foreign debt to gross domestic product reached 36.1 percent as of the end of the second quarter of the 2017- 2018 financial year, which the bank said is “still within the safe limits according to international standards.” Egypt’s fiscal year begins in July and ends in June.

In December 2016, Egypt’s foreign debt stood at $67.3 billion. Egypt’s foreign reserves were $44.030 billion at the end of April, having climbed steadily since it secured a $12 billion, three-year, International Monetary Fund loan in 2016 as part of efforts to lure back foreign investors and revive the economy.