The Egyptian Ministry of Finance issued an urgent statement on Friday commenting on Moody’s, the global credit rating agency’s decision to place Egypt under negative review for three months.
Placing the status of Egypt’s sovereign credit rating in both local and foreign currencies and the future outlook under negative review for an additional three months reflects a balanced view of the recent reform steps and measures taken during the past months, the statement read.
The statement added that the agency based its recent decision on the structural reforms taken recently by the Egyptian government to stimulate investment and and empower the private sector.
The government concluded exit deals worth US$1.9 billion under the IPO program it announced, which will help increase foreign exchange inflows, the statement said.
It will also provide part of the foreign financing required to cover the needs of the Egyptian economy.
Moody’s stressed the importance of targeting stability in the net foreign assets of the banking sector and increasing the country’s foreign exchange resources, especially more sustainable ones that are not linked to debt such as increasing the proceeds of commodity and service exports and foreign direct investments.
