Mr. Cave's Report on Egyptian finance was published on Monday,
and is analysed elsewhere, and the market, with its unerring instinct for facts, responded by an immediate fall. This has greatly annoyed financiers in France, who hold great quantities of the Egyptian Floating Debt, and politicians in England, who think the Suez - Canal tran- saction will be discredited if Egypt becomes bankrupt ; and the most extraordinary statements are published to avert the disaster, the majority of them being assertions that France and Italy intend to " protect " the Egyptian Debt. That, surely, is nonsense. That the Governments of France and Italy will be pleased to see French capitalists pay off the Egyptian Floating Debt is, no doubt, true, and they may also appoint Commis- sioners to receive certain revenues, but that M. Leon Say and M. Depretis will give the new loan, much less the whole debt, any kind of guarantee we are unable to believe. If they do, the Egyptian Treasury is, of course, all straight for the present ; but if they do not, the necessary £20,000,000 will have to be raised at very heavy rates. The telegrams announcing that £3,000,000 and 1800,000 are ready are of little importance to investors, for whom the cardinal fact of Egyptian finance may be stated in a line. The Floating Debt—which is either £18,243,000 or £21,000,000, according as we exclude or include some private bonds—must be paid off wholly, or they cannot 13e safe for twelve months.
Previous page
