The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) stated that the total surplus of Egypt’s balance of payments rose to $5.1 billion during the first quarter of financial year 2017/2018 from 1.9 during the same period of financial year 2016/2017.
According to the CBE, remittances of Egyptians abroad rose to USD 5.9 from January to March during the financial year 2017/18, compared to $4.3 billion in the same period during the financial year 2016/2017.
In November, the central bank floated the currency and agreed to a $12 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund to support its reform programme.
Egypt’s foreign reserves registered $36.535 billion at the end of September 2017. Around 9.4 million Egyptians live abroad, of a total Egyptian population of 104.2 million.
Egyptians working abroad send back billions of dollars a year in remittances, an important source of hard currency.
Source: al-Masry al-Youm
