Egypt’s trade balance deficit declines 1% in Q1 of 2021

CAIRO – 2 June 2021: Egypt’s trade balance deficit decreased by 1 percent during the first quarter of 2021, according to Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala El-Said.

In a statement issued by the Cabinet Wednesday, the minister explained that the trade balance deficit during the period from January to March 2021 amounted to about $9.6 billion, compared to $9.7 billion in the corresponding period in 2020.

El-Said indicated that the total value of non-oil merchandise exports increased during the same period by about $7.4 billion, compared to $7 billion in the same period in 2020, marking an increase of 6 percent.

She added that the remittances of expatriates also continued in the upward trend, recording $15.5 billion, during the first half of this year, achieving an increase of about 10 percent, compared to the period from January to July 2020.

The minister stated that net foreign direct investments (FDI) began to recover during the first half of the year 2020/2021, recording net inflows of about $3.4 billion, compared to $2.5 billion during the previous half.

This came during today's cabinet meeting headed by Mostafa Madbouly.

El-Said affirmed that what the Suez Canal achieved during the past year, despite the coronavirus pandemic, was evidence of the success in developing several scenarios to confront crises, and proposing multiple alternatives to address international shipping institutions, ship owners and operators, with flexible price packages for the canal transit fees.

She pointed out that the Suez Canal achieved during the month of April the highest monthly revenue ever in the history of the Suez Canal, at about $553.6 million.

The Minister of Planning indicated that the total production index rose to 103.48 percent in February 2021, compared to 101.04 percent in January 2021, recording a growth rate consistent with the GDP growth rate of 2.42 percent.

With regard to the financial and monetary sector, El-Said indicated that the inflation rate declined in April 2021, reaching 4.4 percent on an annual basis, and 1.2 percent on a monthly basis, and net foreign reserves continued to rise for the 10th month in a row, reaching $40.3 billion in April 2021.

She pointed out that the stability of the value of the local currency against the US dollar contributed to controlling the rise in commodity prices, and the net foreign reserves began to increase steadily since May 2020 in conjunction with the stability witnessed by the currency market.