Moody’s Credit Ratings Agency raised Egypt’s credit outlook to positive from negative in the wake of the country attracting foreign investment and currency from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other parties. The rating agency affirmed that the positive outlook is also attributable to the change in economic policy, including the recent devaluation of the Egyptian local currency and interest rate increase. On 6 March, Egypt announced that it had signed an expanded loan program with the IMF, increasing an existing loan program by USD 5 billion. The move came in conjunction with the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decision to allow the Egyptian pound to trade freely after months of tightly managed rates. The Egyptian Pound plummeted in value against the US Dollar by up to 60 percent following the CBE’s decision. “(It) reflects significant official and bilateral support announced and marked policy steps taken in the past week that will, if maintained, support macroeconomic rebalancing,” Bloomberg analyst Elisa Parisi-Capone said in a note. On 5 October 2023, Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s credit scoring from ‘B3’ to ‘Caa1’ pointi ng to the country’s worsening capacity to handle its debt. The…
Moody’s Raises Egypt’s Credit Outlook To Positive Following IMF Deal
March 9, 2024
