Egypt’s Paris Club debt hikes to $ 3.5B by end of March

CAIRO – 2 September 2017: Egypt’s total debt to Paris Club increased to about $ 3.5 billion by the end of March, up from $ 3.4 billion at the end of December, according to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) latest report.

The Paris Club is an informal group of financial officials from 19 of the world’s largest economies. The group provides financial services, including debt restructuring relief and cancellation, to indebted countries and their creditors.

In January, Egypt repaid a $ 670 million six-month premium on the foreign debt owed to the Paris Club.

Egypt's foreign debt jumped to $ 73.9 billion at the end of March, marking an increase of $ 18 billion in the nine-month period from July to March of the fiscal year 2016-2017.

“Egypt has not and will not fail to pay its due foreign debts in time,” a top banking official said, adding that “Egypt had paid around $ 700 million dues to the Paris Club in July.”