Egypt’s foreign reserves rise to $45.51B by end of January

CAIRO – 3 March 2020: Egypt’s foreign reserves rose by about $53 million, recording $45.509 billion by the end of February 2020, compared to $45.456 billion by the end of January 2020, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

The current average of foreign reserves covers about 7.2 months of Egypt's commodity imports, which is higher than the global average of about three months of commodity imports.

Foreign currencies in Egypt’s foreign reserves include the U.S. dollar, euro, Australian dollar, Japanese yen and Chinese yuan.

The main function of the foreign exchange reserve, including its gold and various international currencies, is to provide commodities, repay the installments on interest rates of external debt, and to cope with economic crises.

Egypt embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.

The country floated its currency in November 2016 before it clinched a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF Executive Board approved in November 2016 a three-year extended fund facility (EFT) loan to Egypt worth $12 billion to support its economic reform program.