Former Assistant Finance Minister Sherine al-Shawarby on Tuesday announced that a new devaluation for the Egyptian pound is expected after the upcoming presidential elections, which will lead to an exacerbation of debts.
Her remarks during a session titled “Alternatives to Reducing Public Debt and Maximizing Interest from Internal and External Borrowing,” held by the Public Debt and Budget Deficit Committee of the National Dialogue.
“We need to change our policy with the aim of adopting clear policies that give signals to the citizen that the state will manage the debt file in the usual manner so that we do not fall into a bigger problem,’ she said.
“We must admit that the situation is not reassuring and there is an actual liquidity crisis.”
Egypt’s domestic debt increased by eight percent in the first quarter of 2023 to reach LE6.86 trillion ($222.18 billion), compared to LE 6.352 trillion in the last quarter of 2022, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.
Based on the data, Egyptian external debt also rose to US$165.361 billion by the end of the first quarter of this year, an increase of 1.5 percent compared to the last quarter of 2022, when it recorded $162.928 billion.
Source: Egypt Independent