The Egyptian government is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund over an emergency loan of $3 billion, after having declined a similar offer from the IMF last year. In an email interview, Magda Kandil, the executive director and director of research at the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, discussed Egypt’s international borrowing.
WPR: How dependent has Egypt been historically on international financing, and how has that changed since the revolution?
Magda Kandil: Egypt has been dependent on financing to close the gap in the fiscal deficit. However, most of the borrowing has been domestic. Currently, public debt is estimated at 85 percent of GDP, of which 85 percent is domestic and 15 percent is foreign. The foreign debt is estimated at $35 billion.