A general view of the Nile river in Cairo, Egypt. (AP)
The country's external debt increased by 1.5 percent compared to the second quarter figure of $162.9 billion.
The total long-term debt reached $136.4 billion in Q3 (January-March 2023), up from $132.7 billion in Q2 (October-December 2022).
Meanwhile, the short-term debt slipped to nearly $29 billion in Q3 from $30.2 billion in Q2.
Short-term debts are debts that mature within a year, while long-term debts have maturities that exceed that time frame.
Egypt is coping with a shortage of US dollar liquidity in the local market and a financing gap estimated at $17 billion through 2026. To narrow that gap, the government is working on a program to sell state-owned assets, which has collected about $2 billion so far.
Recent reports indicate that in H1 of FY2022/23 (July-December 2022), Egypt's budget deficit surged to over EGP 367 billion (almost $12 billion), equating to roughly four percent of the GDP.
Egypt has committed to achieving a budget deficit of 6.1 percent of the GDP and a gross debt ceiling of 92.1 percent of the GDP by the end of the unreleased FY 2022/23.
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