Foreign currencies in Egypt’s int’l reserves rise to $39B in March

CAIRO – 14 April 2018: Foreign currencies’ balance in Egypt’s international reserves increased to $39 billion in March 2018, up from $25 billion in March 2017, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Meanwhile the gold’s balance in the reserves increased to $2.8 billion in March 2018, compared to $2.6 billion in March 2017.

Egypt’s foreign reserves are expected to increase after Egypt’s recent $2.46 billion euro-denominated bond sale.

Egypt’s foreign reserves reached $42.611 billion at the end of March, a rise of nearly $87 million from $42.524 billion at the end of February, according to the CBE.
The reserves are expected to further grow over the coming two years to reach $50 billion, banking sources said Saturday.

They said that the reserves will be buoyed by tourism revenues, Egypt’s Eurobonds issuance, foreign direct investments and the savings from natural gas imports.
Egypt imports goods with an average of $5 billion monthly, meaning that the current reserves will cover around eight months of imports.

The international reserves in Egypt consist of a basket of five main currencies, namely, U.S. Dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro, Japanese Yen and Chinese Yuan.

Egypt embarked on a bold economic reform program in 2014 that includes cutting energy subsidies and introducing new taxes to cut the budget deficit.

It floated its local currency in November 2016, after which it clinched a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Foreign reserves have been increasing since then. Reserves were only $19.041 billion at the end of October 2016.