Egypt’s foreign reserves up $400M in September, reach $36.5B

CAIRO – 2 October 2017: Egypt’s foreign reserves hiked $400 million by the end of September to reach $36.535 billion, up from $36.1 billion in August, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced Monday.

In July, the international reserves stood at $36 billion, after it recorded in June highest level since the January 2011 revolution when it soared $4.73 billion in one month.

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

Reserves were only $19.041 billion at the end of October, just before Egypt floated its local currency in November, the opening salvo of a sweeping IMF-backed economic reform program that also includes loosening capital controls, hiking taxes and slashing subsidies.