Egypt pays 50% of debts to foreign oil partners

CAIRO - 2 May 2017: Egypt has paid 50 percent of its financial dues to foreign oil companies over the last three years, Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla said Monday.

“Egypt’s debt to foreign partners in the petroleum sector was reduced to $3.5 billion, after it reached $6.3 billion by the end of 2013,” Molla told ON Live TV channel.

Egypt imports 30 percent of its fuel needs, the minister pointed out. He revealed that the financial dues of different ministries to the Ministry of Petroleum reached 200 billion EGP ($11.04 billion).

Paying Egypt’s debt to foreign partners was one of the conditions of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) to Egypt, according to a statement by the British Embassy in Cairo released last November.