Foreigners’ investments in treasury bills issued by the Egyptian government jumped by EGP 43.5bn in May to reach EGP 136.157bn compared to EGP 92.624bn in April 2017, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
Foreign investors has become one of the largest investors in Egyptian treasury bills following the CBE’s decision to liberate the exchange rate in November 2016, after they had stopped their investments since January 2011.
The CBE’s latest report on the performance of banks and the Egyptian economy showed that the value of treasury bills increased in May by EGP 35.3bn to reach EGP 817.4bn.
According to the report, the government banks’ balances of treasury bills in May increased by about EGP 16bn recording EGP 279.2bn, while the balances of foreign banks operating in the domestic market rose by EGP 1.3bn to record EGP 23.1bn.
On the other hand, private banks’ investments in treasury bills fell by EGP 20.3bn to reach EGP 219.8bn, and specialised banks’ balances also decreased by EGP 2bn to record EGP 6.5bn.
The CBE said that Egypt’s external debt increased by about $18.1bn from July to March in fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017, to reach about $73.9bn at the end of March 2017.
He pointed out that the external debt amounted to about 41.2% of GDP, compared to 17.3% at the end of March 2016.
The CBE also revealed an increase in local public debt of EGP 73bn during Q3 FY 2016/2017, reaching EGP 3.073tn at the end of March 2017, compared to EGP 3tn in December 2016.
The CBE’s monthly report showed that the total loans granted by banks to their customers increased by EGP 21.7bn in April 2017 recording EGP 1.358tn, compared to EGP 1.336tn in March 2017.
The CBE said that banks’ loans in foreign currency fell by EGP 71.6bn in April to record EGP 532.9bn, compared to EGP 540.1bn at the end of March, while loans in local currency increased by EGP 28.9bn to record EGP 825bn.
The report also revealed that the total deposits in banks increased by EGP 49.2bn by the end of April 2017 to reach EGP 2.918tn, compared to EGP 2.869tn in March 2017.
The CBE pointed out that the deposits in local currency increased by EGP 40.9bn to reach EGP 2.03tn at the end of April compared to EGP 1.99tn in March, a growth of 2.05%. The deposits in foreign currency increased by EGP 8.3bn to reach EGP 883.04bn in April, compared to EGP 874.7bn in March, a growth of 0.9%.
