DUBAI: Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed Egypt’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings at B3, six levels below investment grade, and kept its stable outlook for the country.
Very weak government finances will continue to constrain the rating pending further clarity on the sustainability and impact of the reform program, Moody’s said, noting that the country’s international reserves has been driven mainly by debt-creating inflows.
Egypt has raised $7 billion (SR26.25 billion) from the sale of Eurobonds in the fiscal year that ended in June, including $4 billion in January consisting of five, 10 and 30-year bonds with yields of 6.125 percent, 7.5 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.
IMF is due to disburse the second $4 billion installment of its $12 billion facility for Egypt, while World Bank is set to release the last $1 billion of the three-year loan it granted to Cairo. The nation is also expecting to receive the last $500 million from its African Development Bank loan.
“Moody’s expects Egypt’s credit profile to remain heavily influenced by the government’s very weak government finances for a sustained period, with already high fiscal deficits continuing to grow in nominal terms over the coming years and declining only gradually as a percentage of GDP,” the ratings agency said.
“As a consequence, Egypt’s government financial strength will remain very weak for the foreseeable future, with debt and debt affordability metrics continuing to exceed by some margin the median for B3-rated sovereigns.”
Egypt plans to again tap the global debt markets in January to raise as much as $4 billion to help plug its budget deficit, which is now about 11 percent of GDP as of end June.
Moody’s likewise cautioned that any sign of a slowdown in Egypt’s reform program, which would have implications for government finances and external liquidity, could jeopardize its rating and outlook for the country.
“Renewed social and political instability or a material deterioration in the security situation could also lead to a negative rating action,” the agency said.
Moody’s affirms Egypt’s credit rating, gives stable outlook
Moody’s affirms Egypt’s credit rating, gives stable outlook
Multilateralism strained, but global cooperation adapting: WEF report
DUBAI: Overall levels of international cooperation have held steady in recent years, with smaller and more innovative partnerships emerging, often at regional and cross-regional levels, according to a World Economic Forum report.
The third edition of the Global Cooperation Barometer was launched on Thursday, ahead of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos from Jan. 19 to 23.
“The takeaway of the Global Cooperation Barometer is that while multilateralism is under real strain, cooperation is not ending, it is adapting,” Ariel Kastner, head of geopolitical agenda and communications at WEF, told Arab News.
Developed alongside McKinsey & Company, the report uses 41 metrics to track global cooperation in five areas: Trade and capital; innovation and technology; climate and natural capital; health and wellness; and peace and security.
The pace of cooperation differs across sectors, with peace and security seeing the largest decline. Cooperation weakened across every tracked metric as conflicts intensified, military spending rose and multilateral mechanisms struggled to contain crises.
By contrast, climate and nature, alongside innovation and technology, recorded the strongest increases.
Rising finance flows and global supply chains supported record deployment of clean technologies, even as progress remained insufficient to meet global targets.
Despite tighter controls, cross-border data flows, IT services and digital connectivity continued to expand, underscoring the resilience of technology cooperation amid increasing restrictions.
The report found that collaboration in critical technologies is increasingly being channeled through smaller, aligned groupings rather than broad multilateral frameworks.
This reflects a broader shift, Kastner said, highlighting the trend toward “pragmatic forms of collaboration — at the regional level or among smaller groups of countries — that advance both shared priorities and national interests.”
“In the Gulf, for example, partnerships and investments with Asia, Europe and Africa in areas such as energy, technology and infrastructure, illustrate how focused collaboration can deliver results despite broader, global headwinds,” he said.
Meanwhile, health and wellness and trade and capital remained flat.
Health outcomes have so far held up following the pandemic, but sharp declines in development assistance are placing growing strain on lower- and middle-income countries.
In trade, cooperation remained above pre-pandemic levels, with goods volumes continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace than the global economy, while services and selected capital flows showed stronger momentum.
The report also highlights the growing role of smaller, trade-dependent economies in sustaining global cooperation through initiatives such as the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, launched in September 2025 by the UAE, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
Looking ahead, maintaining open channels of communication will be critical, Kastner said.
“Crucially, the building block of cooperation in today’s more uncertain era is dialogue — parties can only identify areas of common ground by speaking with one another.”
