Egitto 6.875% 30.04.2040 ISIN XS0505478684

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Despite having secured a $3bn IMF loan package, the country has $6bn of external debt maturing next year and $9bn in 2024. Is Egypt at risk of debt default?

Egypt needs some $50bn between now and the end of 2023 to pay interest and principal on outstanding loans. In the past several years it has relied for foreign exchange primarily on purchases of sovereign debt by foreign financial interests.

After $20bn was withdrawn in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the relatively small loan provided by the IMF, combined with devaluation of the currency and a mounting trade deficit, left the prospects for a new inflow of foreign private funds bleak. So Egypt has to depend on its “friends” to bail it out. Key among these are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait – along with the regional development banks.

But even with support from those “friends” the economic situation will remain dire for some years to come. So Cop27 was of great importance as it signalled ongoing support for Egypt from the world’s major players, including the EU, US, China, and Russia, none of which want Egypt to default.
 
Egypt to auction $990 mln in one-year dollar T-bills on Thursday- central bank
01/12/2022 17:41 - RSF
CAIRO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Egypt will auction $990 million in one-year dollar T-bills on December 5, the Egyptian central bank said on Thursday.

The auction will be settled on December 6, the bank added.

(Reporting by Alaa Swilam; writing by Yomna Ehab;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
 
REUTERS NEXT-Egypt to build 21 desalination plants in phase 1 of scheme -sovereign fund
01/12/2022 15:07 - RSF

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Desalination plants designed to help reduce water scarcity


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Egypt also planning to use renewables for green hydrogen



(Adds explanation on desalination needed for hydrogen, file photos)
By Aidan Lewis
CAIRO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Egypt plans to award deals next year to build 21 water desalination plants in the first $3 billion phase of a programme that will draw on cheap renewable energy, the CEO of the country's sovereign fund said on Thursday.

Egypt, which recently hosted the COP27 U.N. climate talks and is trying to boost lagging investment in renewables, also aims to start production at a series of proposed green hydrogen projects in 2025-2026, Ayman Soliman told the Reuters NEXT conference.

Egypt depends almost entirely on the Nile for fresh water, and faces rising water scarcity for its population of 104 million. The desalination programme aims to generate 3.3 million cubic metres of water daily in the first phase, and eventually reach 8.8 million cubic metres daily at a cost of $8 billion.

There had been expressions of interest from more than 200 developers from at least 35 countries for the first phase, Soliman said.

The Sovereign Fund was set up in 2018 with a goal of attracting private investment in state-owned assets through partnerships and co-investments.

It is currently focused on getting private consortia to develop brownfield infrastructure, and private equity to develop state-owned enterprises ahead of public listings.

Privatisation plans in Egypt have been repeatedly pushed back, with the government blaming delays on economic shocks including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine as well as on legal obstacles. The plans have also met resistance from advocates of continued state control, analysts say.

'ECONOMIC CONSTITUTION'
Soliman said a state ownership policy that is meant to map out which parts of the economy are open to private investment would serve as the government's "economic constitution" going forward, and as a platform to crowd in private investment despite the rising cost of capital.

"We as a fund are very sharply focused on trying to find those champions to scale up, be it in agriculture be it in tourism, be it in infrastructure, or be it in banking financial services," he said.

At the climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, the government converted into framework agreements nine of 15 memoranda of understanding (MoU) for green hydrogen projects concentrated in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) that would produce millions of tonnes of hydrogen and ammonia.

At least another three or four MoUs were close to being converted, and more MoUs were planned, with cheap renewable costs and the scale of the potential fuel export market towards Europe making Egypt competitive, Soliman said.

Framework agreements give developers access to specific locations to allow them to plan production.

"This is not a competition. We are creating a pipeline or a blueprint for that process, aiming to start production in 2025-26 and all the developers are working backwards from there," Soliman said.

So-called green or clean hydrogen is produced using electrolysers powered by renewable energy to split water from oxygen. It is seen as a potential future power source that could reduce emissions, though to date it is largely limited to experimental projects. Analysts say challenges facing its growth include high costs and energy inputs, as well as safety concerns.

Egypt's projects would have desalinated water built in, and quantities required would be negligible compared to those produced under the national desalination scheme, according to the Sovereign Fund.
(Additional reporting by Sarah El Safty; Editing by Jan Harvey, Nick Macfie and Nick Zieminski)
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