Moody’s Investors Service’s decision on keeping Egypt’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer ratings at B2 with a stable outlook reflects the confidence of international and rating institutions in the ability of the Egyptian economy to deal positively with coronavirus crisis, Minister of Finance Mohamed Ma’it commented.
Ma’it clarified that this confidence is due to the economic, monetary and financial reforms adopted by the political leadership and supported by the Egyptian people during the past years, which allowed a degree of solidity and flexibility for the Egyptian economy enabling it to deal with challenges and internal and external shocks.
“Moody’s report indicates the corporation’s confidence in the ability of Egyptian officials to manage economic conditions and deal with local and external crises and shocks in an efficient and serious manner,” the minister stated.
He clarified that Moody’s experts praised the marked improvement in governance and follow-up systems for economic performance in Egypt and the improvement of the business climate, and the availability of a large and reassuring local financing base, and a reassuring balance of foreign exchange reserves that allows to cover the financing needs of the country, and reduces the consequences of any capital fluctuations in the light the current state of “uncertainty” in the global financial markets.
Finance Ministry reviewed in a statement that Moody’s report touched positively on the government’s efforts to achieve initial surpluses and create a large balance of foreign currency cash reserves that are sufficient to meet external capital flows
It noted that the Egyptian government has many alternatives to finance its external and financial needs through markets International bonds and international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and other international and regional financial institutions.
The statement added that the report indicates that the criteria governing the credit rating of Egypt are in a good position that makes the state able to deal with economic shocks, and therefore the continued pursuit of effective “public debt” management ensures the continuation of the downward public debt path, the continued improvement of labor market indicators, and the increase in non-oil exports, and increasing the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy, all of which may help and accelerate the improvement of Egypt’s credit rating in the coming years.
Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) affirmed Monday the long-term foreign and local currency issuer ratings of the Government of Egypt at B2. The outlook remains stable.
Egypt Today
12/05/2020
