The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) sent $2bn to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), said Ramy Abu El Naga, deputy CBE governor of the monetary reserve and monetary markets, according to the state-run Middle East News Agency. Abu El-Naga pointed out that this amount represents the first installment of the $3.2bn Afreximbank loan due by Egypt in December 2017. He said that the $1.2bn will be repaid before the end of December. Abu El-Naga affirmed Egypt's commitment to paying all its foreign debts at their specified times. In a related context, the CBE disclosed on Monday that its foreign exchange reserves rose to $36.723bn by the end of November 2017, compared with $36.703bn at the end of October 2017—an increase of about $20m. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, Egypt is due to pay $1.36bn worth of bonds in December. Egypt issued the bonds on 10 November 2016. The coupon interest rate is 4.622% and is due 10 December 2017. There is considerable speculation about the fate of those bonds, which are still listed on the government's outstanding bond balance, and whether they entered into the deal recently concluded by the central bank with a number of international financial institutions to renew them.
