Remittances from Egyptians working abroad rose during the month of November 2016 by $422.8m, registering $1.6bn in total—an increase of 33.2% compared to October, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
In a press release issued on Sunday, the CBE stated that the size of these remittances increased by $334.9m in October, reaching $1.3bn—representing a hike of 35.7% compared to September, in which remittances stood at $937.3bn.
On Thursday, the CBE noted that the balance of payments (BOP) ran an overall surplus of $1.9bn during the first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017 versus an overall deficit of $3.7bn during Q1 of FY 2015/2016.
The CBE explained in a statement on Thursday that capital and financial transactions registered a net income estimated at $7.1bn compared to $1.6bn during the same period the previous year.
In terms of current accounts, the CBE noted that the balance of trade deficit declined by $1.3bn at a rate of 13.4% to register $8.7bn compared to $10bn. This is due to a $530.3m increase in merchandise exports, and a $810.5m decline in merchandise imports.
The CBE said that net transfers decelerated by 21.3% to $3.39bn (against $4.32bn), mainly ascribable to lower net private transfers from $4.29bn to as low as $3.36bn, given the drop in workers’ remittances by 22.3%. On the other hand, net official transfers increased from $21.9m to $33.8m.
