Latest News

Egypt to seek soft loans to assist fund 2024/25 deficit, financing minister states

Egypt plans to turn to the regional debt market and attempt brand-new financial obligation instruments as it works to lower a persistent budget deficit over the coming year, its financing ministry said on Tuesday.

The deficit in the 2023/24 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, was 505 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 10.3 billion) in a 3.016 trillion pound budget, Financing Minister Ahmed Kouchouk stated.

Egypt's fuel subsidies increased by 31% in the 2023/24 fiscal year to 165 billion pounds, while food subsidies climbed up 10% to 133 billion pounds, Kouchouk stated.

The increases mainly showed customer rate inflation that hit 27.5% in the year to end-June.

We are preparing to continue relying on the local debt market and are thinking about new debt instruments and broadening existing tools such as variable rate treasury bonds, local market green bonds and local sukuk, Kouchouk told a news conference.

Egypt wished to prevent the international debt market apart from tapping a couple of brand-new markets and seeking bilateral and multilateral assistance and soft loans. The typical length of the country's foreign debt is 13 years which is great for us, he said.

Egypt has two times raised fuel prices and increased the price of bread as it grapples with heavy aids, steps that were criteria in a $8 billion IMF monetary program signed in March.

The IMF is also pressing Egypt to increase its tax consumption in its 2025/26 budget plan.

Egypt requires tax resources to be able to invest in concern needs, that is a top priority reform that we will be talking about at the time of the fourth evaluation, IMF Ivanna Vladkova Hollar stated last week.

Overall expenditure was 3.016 trillion pounds in 2023/24, while tax profits was 1.63 trillion pounds and all other income 871 billion pounds, Kouchouk said.

Egypt plans expenditure of 3.9 trillion pounds and earnings of 2.6 trillion pounds in the that started on July 1, former finance minister Mohamed al-Maait stated in March.

(source: Reuters)