Remittances from Egyptians jump 23% to $1.6B in January: CBE

CAIRO – 6 March 2017: Remittances from Egyptians abroad soared by 23 percent in January year-on-year, registering $1.6 billion, compared to $1.3 billion in the same month a year earlier, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced in a Monday statement.


The central bank also reported that total remittances from Egyptians abroad rose during the three months after the country's local currency flotation by 19.7 percent to hit $5 billion by the end of January.


On Nov. 3, the central bank abandoned its currency peg against the dollar, allowing the pound to move up and down according to supply and demand.


The move aimed at solving a currency shortfall crisis and crushing a once-thriving black market that had driven clients away from the banking system while investors refrained from interring the market amid worries about FX risks.


Floating the pound along with introducing a value added tax and energy subsidy cuts were on top of an ambitious economic reform program, backed by the International Monetary Fund, to restore macroeconomic stability in an attempt to boost Egypt's limping economy after years of turmoil since the 2011 Revolution.