CBE: Egypt Foreign Reserves Fall by $206m in September

Egypt’s foreign cash reserves fell by US$ 207 million by the end of last September to US$ 18.709 billion, against US$ 18.916 registered by the end of last August, the central bank (CBE) said on Thursday.

This comes after Egypt’s foreign cash reserves had reported a slight rise of US$ 34 million to reach US$ 18.916 billion by the end of last August, against US$ 18.882 billion by end of last June.

Last July, Egypt’s Foreign Reserves recorded their highest rise as they hit US$ 18.8 billion, compared to US$ 14.9 billion by end of last June.

On September 19^th, Central Bank Governor Hisham Ramez said Egypt would return to Qatar US$ 2 billion that the Gulf state had deposited with the North African central bank after negotiations to convert the funds into three-year bonds broke down.

Qatar had sent Egypt $3 billion in May, of which it converted $1 billion into three-year bonds.

Ramez said the Qatari authorities had agreed the week before last to convert the entire remaining $2 billion but then changed their minds.

“So we just repaid the deposit,” he said.

The values of Egypt’s net foreign reserves held by the Central Bank of Egypt during the last two years are as follows: