Madbouly and Kouchouk review efforts to lower debt levels

Cairo – August 29, 2024: On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk to review the country’s ongoing efforts to reduce public debt, emphasizing the government's commitment to decreasing public debt while ensuring fiscal sustainability.

According to Mohamed El-Homsani, the Cabinet spokesperson, Madbouly highlighted recent progress in lowering external debt and affirmed the government's resolve to maintain this approach over the medium and long term.

The meeting also addressed the government’s strategies for maintaining fiscal discipline and ensuring that the debt-to-GDP ratio continues to decline.

As reported in the July fiscal monthly report by the Ministry of Finance, Egypt’s overall debt fell to 89 percent of GDP by the end of the fiscal year 2023/2024, down from 95.7 percent at the end of fiscal year 2022/2023.

Finance Minister Kouchouk presented a comprehensive medium-term plan to further reduce government debt, with proposals including lowering debt costs, diversifying investor bases and currencies, and extending debt maturities to strengthen confidence in Egypt’s economy.

El-Homsani noted that Kouchouk also suggested measures to reduce internal debt from government agencies.

Egypt has committed to reducing its debt level to below 80 percent by 2027, in alignment with its International Monetary Fund (IMF) program commitments. Additionally, the government aims to decrease the debt-to-GDP ratio to 88.2 percent by the end of fiscal year 2024/25, concluding on June 30, 2025.

The Ministry of Finance has repaid $25 billion of its domestic and external public debts since March, according to a recent report of the Institute of International Finance (IIF).

Egypt plans to use a significant portion of its IPO program’s proceeds to fund its strategy to lower the country’s high debt levels, which hit 98 percent of the GDP in FY2022/2023.