Egypt’s gross public debt – the total financial liabilities of all government enterprises – is expected to make up 92.9 percent of the country’s GDP in 2023, according to an economic outlook report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF’s monthly report on the Middle East and Central Asia, published on 3 May, indicates a potential 4.4 percent increase from the previous year’s 88.5 percent. This number, if reached, would be Egypt’s highest since 2000. The country’s total external gross debt is predicted to account for 50.2 percent of the GDP, up from 37.3 percent the previous year. If reached, it would also become the highest in two decades. EGYPT’S ECONOMIC WOES CONTINUE The combination of the 2016 currency devaluation, COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 created a chain of successive impacts on Egypt’s economy. Egypt is heavily dependent on hot money, an investment method that attracts a high volume of foreign investors by enticing them with high interest rates for a short term profit. In times of economic volatility, hot money investors often cash out, causing a shortage in foreign currencies. Egypt witnessed…
