Egypt’s tourism revenues hit $9.9B in 2019/2020

CAIRO – 1 December 2020: Egypt’s tourism revenues dipped by $2.7 billion in the fiscal year of 2019/2020, recording $9.9 billion, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). 

CBE clarified in a report that the decline in the travel receipts caused a drop in the services surplus by 31.2 percent to reach $9 billion in 2019/20, compared to $13 billion in prior year.

The report also revealed that Egypt’s non-oil trade deficit dipped by $ 2 billion to record $36 billion during the fiscal year of 2019/2020, compared to to $38.03 billion in the fiscal year of 2018/2019.

CBE attributed this to the hike in non-oil merchandise exports by $ 1 billion to $ 17.9 billion, up from $ 16.9 billion, spurred largely by the rise in gold exports; and the retreat in non-oil merchandise imports by $ 1 billion to $ 53.9 billion, from $ 55.0 billion.

Meanwhile, the oil trade balance recorded a deficit of $ 421.0 million in FY2019/20, compared with a surplus of $ 8.1 million in the prior year.

According to the report, the decline was triggered by the dip in oil exports by $ 3.1 billion to $ 8.5 billion, from $ 11.6 billion, brought about by the decrease in exports of crude oil & oil products, and natural gas.

It added that oil imports decreased by $ 2.6 billion to US$ 8.9 billion, from $ 11.5 billion, on account of the contraction in the imports of oil products impacted by the decrease in imported quantities by 38 percent and the fall in world oil prices, in addition to the cessation of natural gas imports (as of 2018/2019 Q2). In contrast, crude oil imports increased.