CAIRO, Dec 16 (MENA) – The government has set reducing public and external debt, along with lowering debt-servicing costs, as one of the key objectives of its current economic policy, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said.
Madbouly made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the External Debt Management and Borrowing Regulation Committee, held on Tuesday at the Cabinet’s premises in the New Administrative Capital.
Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Hassan Abdallah, and the ministers of planning and finance attended the meeting, along with a great host of senior officials from relevant state bodies.
Madbouly stressed that the government is working on an integrated strategy to enhance fiscal discipline, tighten control over government spending, improve debt structure, optimize the terms and maturity of existing debt, and secure more financial resources for essential service sectors, according to Cabinet Spokesman Mohamed el-Homsani.
Madbouly said the government’s external debt management and borrowing regulation plan involves creating a general framework to keep debt within safe limits as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The plan also includes debt restructuring through reorganizing external debt via debt-for-investment swaps and implementing debt-for-development swaps, similar to successful deals concluded with several Arab, European, and Asian countries, the premier pointed out.
The meeting addressed the National Program for Structural Reforms as a gateway to improving macroeconomic indicators and enhancing external debt sustainability, the spokesman said.
He indicated the program’s key objectives include increasing GDP growth at rates exceeding debt growth and boosting the state’s capacity to meet external debt obligations.
The meeting also reviewed external debt developments and sustainability indicators for the FY2024/2025, Homsani said, noting that the external debt-to-GDP ratio had been confirmed to remain within safe limits, while total debt balance did not exceed the ceiling set as a percentage of the GDP. (MENA)
