2024-04-22 17:42:36
Data published on the Egypt
– 2024-04-09 20:21:12″>Central Bank of Egypt‘s website showed that the bank’s net foreign assets deficit fell in March to its lowest levels in more than two years, thanks to the sale of rights to develop a huge real estate project and the implementation of a flexible exchange rate system.
The deficit in net foreign assets decreased to 65.38 billion pounds ($1.39 billion) at the end of March from 270.65 billion in the previous month and 352.49 billion at the end of January.
Egypt obtained $5 billion in late February, and another $5 billion in early March from selling the rights to develop the Ras El Hekma project on the Mediterranean coast to Abu Dhabi as part of a deal that will eventually reach $35 billion.
On March 6, Egypt allowed its currency to depreciate as part of an $8 billion support package from the International Monetary Fund.
The pound is now trading at about 48.5 to the dollar after remaining stable at 30.85 pounds for about a year.
The decline in the value of the currency prompted foreign investors to pump billions of dollars into local treasury bills and bonds, and encouraged Egyptian expatriates to send more of their remittances into the country.
The central bank’s net foreign assets slid to a deficit of 93.39 billion pounds in March 2022 from a surplus of 134.35 billion in the previous month, after the Ukrainian crisis prompted foreign investors to withdraw their money from Egypt.
Egypt has not yet released data on net foreign assets for the month of March for the banking sector as a whole.
According to Central Bank data, the deficit shrank by 217.1 billion pounds in February to 679 billion.
Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Rami Abu Al-Naga, said last Thursday that Egypt is committed to adopting a flexible exchange rate system that leads to the availability of hard currency.
Abul Naga added in an interview with the Atlantic Council that the black market for foreign exchange, which flourished before Egypt was able to curb it after concluding two deals with the UAE and the International Monetary Fund, “has been completely erased.”
Last updated: April 22, 2024 – 00:16
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2024-04-22 17:42:36