Egypt reduced its external debt by $14 billion in the five months to end-May, the sharpest such decline in the country’s history, a statement released on Monday by Egypt’s press centre said.
The country’s external debt fell to $154 billion as of the end of May from $168 billion at the end of December, according to the statement which quoted an unnamed high-level source at the central bank.
Egypt quadrupled its debt over the last nine years to help fund new capital, build infrastructure, buy weapons and support an overvalued currency.
The government agreed on an $8 billion financial support package with the International Monetary Fund in March. It also sold a large tract of prime Mediterranean coastline to Abu Dhabi for $35 billion in February.