(AFP photo)
Foreign reserves have maintained their stability during August, said Hisham Ramez, governor of Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) during a press conference Sunday.
Ramez said that there was “no decrease compared to the previous month”.
During July, the international foreign reserves inched up, registering $16.73bn compared to $16.678bn at the end of June. During May, foreign reserves amounted to $17.28bn and in April to $17.48bn.
Foreign reserves in 2013 declined continuously from September until the end of December, with foreign reserves at the end of September 2013 amounting to $18.7bn, a $0.2bn drop from August numbers.
Reserves fell to $18.59bn in October, $17.76bn in November and $17.05bn in December, with the rise of reserves starting in January reaching $17.105bn, continuing through February to register $17.3bn.
On 26 August, Ramez announced that $0.5bn will be repaid to Qatar at the beginning of October. He added that if the remaining $2.5bn would be requested in November, the bank would be “ready to repay them in November”.
The CBE governor discussed the recent purchases made by foreigners in bonds and treasury bills, saying that it is considered a positive step.
“[Bond and treasury bills purchases] registered between $100m to $120m during a month and a half,” Ramez said.
