FilePhoto: Central Bank of Egypt's headquarters is seen in downtown Cairo, Egypt March 8, 2016. (Reuters)
Egypt’s external debt rose by 16 percent year-on-year during fiscal year 2015/16 to register $55.7 billion, according to a monthly bulletin released by the Central Bank of Egypt on Wednesday.
The external debt now represents 17.6 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product, the bank’s September bulletin shows.
The debt service was up to $868.2 million in 2015/16 from $415.5 million the previous year.
Foreign deposits registered $4.7 billion, up from $1.3 billion in 2014/15.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman together pledged a total of $12.5 billion in financial aid and investments during an economic conference held last year in Sharm El-Sheikh.
Egypt has been struggling to tackle an economic crisis since the 2011 Revolution, which was followed by political and security turbulence that spooked foreign investors and tourists, both major sources of hard currency.
Egypt’s total domestic debt also grew by 23 percent by end of June, amounting to EGP 2.6 trillion (around $293 billion) or 94.5 percent of the country’s GDP.
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