Government pledges to reduce foreign debts

"The government is committed to reduce Egypt's foreign debt," Prime Minister Atef Ebeid said yesterday.

"This reduction will be brought about by a decrease in government borrowing, which will lead to a drop in interest on repayments," he added.

"The governmet will only allow borrowing in the form of soft or low-interest loans, provided by Arab funds and internationl finance organizations. It will continue to pay back its debts regularly," said Ebeid in press statements.

On increasing Egypt's resources of hard currency, Ebeid said revenues from tourism and exports remittance in hard currency increased in April.

According to a recent report, oil revenues are also expected to increase next month.

Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Ismail Hassan said Egypt's foreign debts declined to $28.1 billion, which is a good indicator according to the reports of world major financial organizations, adding the debt service is not a burden on the state budget.

He added that the volume of banking credits rose to L.E. 282 billion meanwhile deposits with banks increased to L.E. 249.3 billion until last February.