Egypt’s net foreign assets deficit drops by $170M in November to $26.98B, CBE

Cairo – January 2, 2024: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed that Egypt’s net foreign assets (NFA) deficit narrowed in November 2023 to LE 833.96 billion (approx. $26.98 billion), pointing towards a decline in central bank liabilities and an increase in commercial bank assets.

The central bank’s data represents the country’s third-highest net foreign asset deficit, following record-breaking numbers in June and October.

November data reported a LE 5.26 billion decline (around $170.5 million) from October’s deficit of LE 839.21 billion ($27.2 billion).

NFAs saw a slight improvement during November, reported at negative $11.2 billion compared to negative $11.3 billion in October.

Egypt’s net foreign assets stood at a positive LE 248 billion in September 2021.

Net foreign assets in commercial banks narrowed to negative $15.8 billion in November, a slight dip from October’s negative $15.9 billion.

Amid external economic shocks and a foreign currency shortage, the CBE has drawn from Egypt’s NFAs in the past two years to support the Egyptian pound.

Egypt's budget deficit increased by 92 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year 2023/2024 on an annual basis, at a value of LE 312.13 billion, according to the Ministry of Finance.