Fitch affirms Egypt’s ‘B’ rating, Dimian responds that economy is ‘resilient’

The Egyptian economy is showing resilience in the face of international, regional, and national challenges, Minister of Finance Hany Khadry Dimian said Saturday in response to the “B” rating Fitch agency gave Egypt.

Fitch affirmed Friday Egypt’s long-term foreign, local currency issue default ratings (IDR), and senior unsecured foreign and local currency bonds at a B rating, stating that the outlook is “stable”.

“The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at ‘B’ and the Short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘B’,” the agency said.


The agency discussed the drop in the budget deficit from 17.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal year (FY) 2014 to 12.5% of GDP in FY 2015, highlighting that a further reduction can be anticipated in the current fiscal year.

“However the introduction of VAT [value-added tax], the largest single revenue-raising measure, has been delayed,” the agency said, noting that it “expects fiscal consolidation throughout the forecast period, but with savings partially offset by higher social spending and spending commitments in the new constitution the deficit is forecast to remain high”.