Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy said that interest cost will rise by EGP 30 billion during fiscal year 2017/2018 due to an increase in interest rate.
Interest cost is likely to reach EGP 410 billion ($23.25 billion) in Egypt’s general budget for FY17/18, versus expectations of EGP 380 billion, El-Garhy highlighted in a press conference on Tuesday.
In July 2017, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced raising interest rates by 2% or 200 basis points in less than two months.
In November 2016, the CBE had to raise interest rate by 3%, in line with the liberalisation of the exchange rate.
Egypt is implementing an economic reform programme in coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under which it will obtain a $12 billion loan. The government received the first tranche worth $2.75 billion in November 2016.
