Deputy Minister of Finance for Monetary Policies and Institutional Development Ahmed Kojak said that the government targets to collect foreign finances worth $9bn in the coming fiscal year. Kojak told Daly News Egypt that the finances are divided into $3bn from international debt markets and EGP 5bn to 6bn through international financial institutions. Egypt collected $18.5bn dollars since the end of last summer through a package of bilateral loans, currency swap agreements, loans from multilateral financial institutions, and sale of bonds in international markets. The government tends to expand its reliance on external funding, in light of the shortage of foreign currency that the country has suffered from over the last year—in addition to the high cost of domestic borrowing rates that came close to 20%. In terms of the rest of the necessary finances required for the external liabilities on Egypt—expected to exceed $10bn—during the next fiscal year (FY), Kojak said that the economy possesses other dollar resources, such as exports, tourism, and foreign direct investment. He said that all financing tools are available so that the government can depend on them. Those include samurai bonds, panda bonds, and sukuk, but he stated they would resort to less expensive tools. The government is planning to issue bonds in the international markets in 2018, in addition to receiving the second tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan and the rest of the first tranche. It is also expected to obtain $1.5bn from the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AFDB), which represents the final tranche of a loan worth $4.5bn.
