Finance Minister discusses S&P downgrading Egypt’s economic outlook

Finance Minister discusses S&P downgrading Egypt’s economic outlook

Egypt will implement a package of financial, monetary and structural measures to deal with the high external financing needs of the Egyptian economy which prompted Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P Global Ratings) to downgrade Egypt’s outlook to negative, Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait announced.

He explained that the decision for S&P Global Ratings to keep Egypt’s credit rating in both local and foreign currencies at B, while downgrading the future outlook from stable to negative for the Egyptian economy, resulted from pressures related to foreign transactions as well as the economy’s exposure to external pressure.

The largest of these external pressures are related to the armed conflict in Ukraine and its subsequent negative economic repercussions globally, including an unprecedented wave of inflation, he added.

The minister noted that the Egyptian government provides financial support to sectors of society most vulnerable to inflationary pressures.

Maait stressed that Egypt is continuing to implement the economic reform program supported by the International Monetary Fund and will deal with the high external financing needs of the Egyptian economy.

According to S&P Global Ratings’ estimates, Egypt’s external financing needs amount to about US$17 billion during the current fiscal year 2022/2023 and $20 billion during the next fiscal year 2023/2024.

Maait