CAIRO, Jul 6 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's foreign debt dropped by 12 percent during the third quarter of the fiscal year 2014/2015, whereas the domestic debt increased by 18 percent, the central bank said on Monday.

Foreign debt withdrew to $39.853 billion from January to March, as opposed to $45.288 billion during the same time last year, the bank said in its monthly bulletin.

The drop is attributed to the payment of loans worth $3.5 billion. Another reason for the drop is the decline in the majority of currencies used for loans against the U.S. Dollar, the bank said.

Domestic debt meanwhile increased to 2.016 trillion Egyptian pounds in March, as opposed to 1.708 trillion pounds during the same time last year.

Egypt's economy has been hit hard by the political turmoil which gripped the country since a popular uprising toppled former President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011. 

Egypt's total domestic debt was valued at 1.9 trillion Egyptian pounds in December 2014. 

(1 dollar = 7.73 Egyptian pounds)