S&P maintains Egypt credit rating at B with "Stable Outlook"

CAIRO - 23 October 2022: Finance Minister Mohamed Maait stressed that the decision of Standard and Poor’s (S&P) to maintain Egypt's foreign and local currency credit ratings at B level with a "Stable Outlook" for the second time in 2022 reflects the international institutions' confidence in the Egyptian economy and its resilience.

 

In a statement on Saturday, he added that this shows trust that the Egyptian economy has the ability to deal positively with difficult foreign repercussions, topped by the war in Europe and its economic fallout at the international level.

 

He said that the S&P's decision was based on its expectation that the Egyptian authorities would proceed with implementing economic and structural reforms that will contribute to pushing forward economic growth with the private sector due to play its role.

 

Moreover, S&P analysts expect the Egyptian economy to realize growth rate in the medium term in view of adopting investment incentive policies and measures.

 

He noted that the S&P report highlighted the efforts exerted by the Finance Ministry managing the budget. citing a drop in total deficit to 6.1 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 6.8 percent of the GDP in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

 

The ministry continued to realize initial surplus for the fifth straight year at 1.3 percent of the GDP in the last fiscal year, he said.

 

He added that the S&P report referred to a noticeable improvement in the trade balance indexes of the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

 

Non-petroleum exports rose by 29 percent, he said, noting that a huge surplus was registered in the petroleum balance at dlrs 4.4 billion.

 

The Suez Canal revenues hit a historical record at dlrs 7 billion, he said, noting that the tourism sector's revenues ratcheted up last year to register dlrs 10.7 billion.

 

The foreign direct investments increased to hit dlrs 9.1 billion against dlrs 5.2 billion dollars in 2020-2021.