CAIRO — Egypt is close to agreeing a schedule for repaying $6 billion in outstanding debt to foreign oil companies, Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday. Beblawi also told Al Masry Al Youm that reaching an agreement would lead to a rise in investments from the companies to $15 billion within two years. The Egyptian state, racked by political and economic turmoil since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, has been struggling to meet soaring energy bills caused by high subsidies on fuel products for the country's more than 84 million population. "We are in debt to foreign oil firms for around $6 billion, which is what led them to stop investing. We are on the verge of reaching an agreement with them to schedule the debts," Beblawi said. "Reaching a settlement will lead to a rise in investment from foreign (oil) firms within two years to $15 billion." Earlier this month, Oil Minister Sharif Ismail said Egypt was preparing a timetable for repaying arrears on debts it owes to foreign companies in order to encourage them to continue investing in exploration and development. Financial disclosures by firms, including BP PLC, BG Group, Apache, Edison SpA and TransGlobe Energy, show Egypt owed them more than $5.2 billion at the end of 2012. Dana Gas, owed $230 million by Egypt in overdue payments for gas supplies, said it was in active dialogue with the government over the debts. Meanwhile, Kuwait will deposit $2 billion in aid in Egypt's central bank next week, the Egyptian central bank governor said on Wednesday. Hisham Ramez told the Al-Arabiya television network the money would stay in the central bank for five years. A political crisis that began when the army overthrew president Mohamed Morsi on July 3 has hammered Egypt's economy. In July, Kuwait pledged to provide $4 billion in aid to Egypt, matching pledges by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Kuwait's state news agency said the package would comprise a $2 billion central bank deposit, a $1 billion grant and $1 billion in oil products. The aid from the three Gulf Arab oil producers is expected to help Egypt avoid a balance of payments crisis and overcome fuel shortages that partly caused a wave of public anger against Morsi. It will also expected to ease pressure on Cairo to conclude long-running talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan. But a surging fiscal gap will remain a pressing challenge for the Egyptian government, analysts say. — Agencies
