The total volume of the foreign trade relations implemented by banks working in the Egyptian market during the period from 3 November 2016 until 10 April 2017 reached $28bn, according to Tarek Fayed, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
Fayed said in a report issued on Sunday that banks have repaid the value of collection and credit documents previously opened—worth $19bn. They have also opened new credit documents for $9bn.
According to a previous report by the CBE, banks have opened documentary credits worth $6.34bn to import petroleum products alone during the period from January to December 2016.
Yahya Aboul Fotouh, the deputy head of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), said in previous statements that the bank has allocated more than $7.5bn to cover the import demand from abroad since 3 November until April of this year, noting that at the same time, the bank was able to attract foreign exchange worth $6.5bn since the liberalisation of the exchange rate.
The CBE pointed out that the total foreign currency cash flow in the Egyptian banking sector reached $19.2bn since the flotation on 3 November until this month.
Mohamed Eletreby, chairperson of Banque Misr, said in a statement that banks’ total foreign exchange earnings include more than $14bn in transfers from Egyptians working abroad, and more than $4.5bn foreign investments in treasury bills and the Egyptian stock exchange.
