Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, addressing Expanded Meeting of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on Oct. 23, said that the indebtedness burden of the developing countries has become dire, and that the concessionary credit investments of a development bank are urgently needed. Egypt has been hit hard both by Israel’s war, war in the Persian Gulf and falling revenue from operation of the Suez Canal, and by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s globally imposed interest rate spike and currency depreciations. A nation which had major energy, water, and transport projects underway, Egypt has been compelled since 2022 to pay up to 17% for sovereign borrowing, and to accept devaluation of the Egyptian pound and an IMF austerity regime.
President El-Sisi told the heads of state and other national officials:
“The international developments have shown that the shortcomings of the current international system are not limited to political and security issues, but extend to economic and developmental issues as well. Developing countries suffer from the escalation of the debt problem and the lack of the necessary funding to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to the high cost of financing and borrowing. From this standpoint, Egypt accords priority to taking tangible steps to ensure that the international community undertakes its role in providing soft financing to achieve development in developing countries, through the creation of innovative and effective mechanisms for financing development, and comprehensive mechanisms to ensure the sustainable management of developing countries’ debts.
