Speaking at a press conference on Saturday to announce the results of fiscal year 2024/2025, the minister said a Medium-Term Debt Strategy will be issued before December.
The external debt of Egypt’s budgetary authorities fell by around $4 billion over the past two years, including $1 billion last year, equivalent to a 10% reduction relative to GDP. As of the end of June, external debt stood at 85% of GDP, according to Minister of Finance, Ahmed Kouchouk.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday to announce the results of fiscal year 2024/2025, the minister said a Medium-Term Debt Strategy will be issued before December.
The plan aims to lower public debt levels and ease repayment burdens by strengthening the regulatory framework for risk management and conducting a comprehensive assessment of debt markets.
Kouchouk added that the average maturity of public debt increased from 1.2 years in June 2024 to 1.6 years by the end of the past fiscal year.
He also confirmed that Egypt will continue reducing external debt used to finance the budget by $1–2 billion annually.
According to Finance Ministry data, domestic debt servicing accounted for 64.3% of total revenues, while domestic interest payments represented 43.4% of total expenditures.
Interest payments alone reached 73% of total public revenues in FY 2024/2025, amounting to EGP 1.92 trillion compared to EGP 1.36 trillion the previous year.
Meanwhile, total revenues rose to EGP 2.63 trillion—equivalent to 15% of GDP—up from EGP 2 trillion at the end of FY 2023/2024.
The overall budget deficit reached EGP 1.29 trillion, or 7.4% of GDP, slightly higher than the Finance Ministry’s initial target of EGP 1.243 trillion.
The minister explained that around EGP 440 billion was allocated to address energy sector challenges, secure petroleum supplies, and settle dues with foreign partners. This ensured stable electricity generation with no blackouts and a consistent energy supply for productive and investment activities.
Kouchouk also highlighted government guarantees worth EGP 94 billion to support and modernize the transport sector, including EGP 74 billion for the National Authority for Tunnels and EGP 13.5 billion for the National Railways Authority to enhance public services.
On revenues, tax collections rose to 12.6% of GDP (EGP 2.2 trillion), compared to 11.7% of GDP in FY 2023/2024. Rasha Abdel Aal, Head of the Egyptian Tax Authority, attributed this growth to a 35% increase in both income tax and VAT revenues, a 61% increase in taxes on imported goods, and a 65% surge in excise taxes.
Meanwhile, Finance Ministry data revealed that public investment fell by 23% to EGP 382 billion, compared with a budgeted target of EGP 496 billion in the last fiscal year.
