Egypt has promised to reduce its debt to oil and gas producers by paying $1bn in receivables over the course of the next two months.

The government owes international oil companies (IOCs) $6.3bn, energy minister Ismail Sharif said on 22 April, after a payout of $1.5bn late last year already diminished the debt pile. “A new chunk of around $1bn will be paid to foreign firms within two months,” Mr Ismail told the MENA news service. (CONTINUED - 1049 WORDS)