Egypt owes to pay $5bn in debts to Gulf countries in 2023

Once again, Egypt is facing a major fiscal challenge related to the payment of foreign debts due in the coming months of the current year 2023. According to the Central Bank of Egypt, Egypt is due to pay $2 billion of the $4 billion debt owed to Kuwait in April and the rest $2 billion is scheduled to be paid in September. Part of a $2 billion Emirati deposit is due to be paid next month along with another $1 billion due in July 2023.

Estimates of economic research centers and experts indicate that Egypt will seek rescheduling of the terms of these deposits and postpone their payment as the country is witnessing a crisis of dollar liquidity and the decline of the Egyptian pound against foreign currencies, which led to the rise of the inflation curve to historical levels.

The value of Arab countries’ deposits with the Central Bank of Egypt currently amounts to $28.2 billion in short and long-term deposits, and nearly half of this amount is deposits provided by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar during the past year to support Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the resulting economic crises.

$9 billion due this year

The published figures and data indicate that Egypt must pay foreign debts of about $9 billion due to be repaid in 2023, and also indicate that Egypt currently needs about $41 billion to cover debt payments and the current account deficit until the end of 2023. According to the Central Bank of Egypt, the Arab countries own 25.1 percent of Egypt’s external debt, while the International Monetary Fund owns about 15 percent of it. Medium and long-term debts exceeded $72.4 billion by the end of 2025.

According to the medium and long-term external debt repayment schedule, Egypt must pay $8.32 billion until the end of June 2023, and in 2024, $10.9 billion must be paid in the first half and $13.3 billion in the second half of the year. During 2025, $9.3 billion must be paid in the first half and $5.8 billion in the second half of the year. —AL-ASabiya