Egypt expects debt to be 'Euroclearable' by November, says minister

Maait presented details of Egypt's strategy for managing its debt, which includes reducing debt interest payments as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) to 6.9% by 2023/24 from 8.8% this financial year. This year 35.1% of government spending went to interest payments on its debt.

Egypt expects its domestic debt to be "Euroclearable" and open to a larger number of foreign investors by November, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said on Tuesday.

Egypt signed an agreement to create a cross-border link with Euroclear, Europe's biggest settlement house for securities, in 2019. In a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce, Maait said that Egypt also expected to join JPMorgan's GBI-EM investment index in a listing that could lift its local currency bond markets.

Egypt and Ukraine have been placed on review for joining the widely tracked index and expect to receive a decision within the next six months. Maait presented details of Egypt's strategy for managing its debt, which includes reducing debt interest payments as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) to 6.9% by 2023/24 from 8.8% this financial year.

This year 35.1% of government spending went to interest payments on its debt. The government aims to reduce that to 29.6% by 2023/24.