Moody’s changes its outlook of Egypt to negative from stable

CAIRO- 27 May 2022: The Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has changed its outlook on Egypt from stable to negative.

“Moody’s affirmed the long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer ratings of the Government of Egypt at B2 and changed the outlook to negative from stable,” the agency said in a statement on Thursday.

“Moody's has also affirmed Egypt's foreign-currency senior unsecured ratings at B2, and its foreign-currency senior unsecured MTN program rating at (P)B2,” the statement added.

The agency attributed the change in its outlook to the inflation in the food prices, saying that if the government could not mitigate such raises in prices, it would cause “social tensions,” despite the foreign financial support of the Gulf States Council (GCC) and the prospect of a new IMF program.

In February 2022, the agency maintained its rating for the Egyptian banking sector at B2, with a stable outlook; it was the 14th rating out of Moody's 18 ratings, from highest to lowest.