Foreign reserves to improve Egypt’s food security: Research

CAIRO – 9 August 2017: Egypt’s foreign reserves can be used to improve the country’s food security, Australia-based research firm Future Directions International (FDI) said in a 9 August research note.

FDI stated that the current foreign reserves level at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will secure for the country eight months of imports, “which reassures not just potential investors, but the government’s ability to buy food in the case of any upheaval,” it said.

Egypt's foreign reserves jumped by $4.73 billion in June to $36.04 billion, the Central Bank said on August 1, recording the highest level since the 2011 political uprising.

Foreign reserves in the CBE have been rising since the Egyptian government clinched a $12 billion three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund in November, restoring confidence in the Egyptian market.

In a meeting with President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi earlier this week, CBE governor Tarek Amer said that seven-year high foreign reserves will help in raising Egypt’s credit rating by international agencies.