Total remittances sent home by Egyptian expatriates rose during the period between July and November 2017 by about $2.3bn, reaching $10.4bn, compared to $8.1bn during the same period of 2016, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
The CBE said that the volume of remittances recorded $2.2bn in only November 2017, compared to about $2.1bn in November 2016, a growth of 5.8%.
This increase is considered one of the most important results of the floatation of local currency on 3 November 2016, and reflects Egyptians’ confidence in the banks operating in their home country, according to the CBE.
It should be noted that the remittances of Egyptian expatriates reached about $19bn during the fiscal year 2014/2015. Even though a large part of those remittances were exchanged on the unofficial market before the floatation of the exchange rate.
Over the past years, there have been many initiatives to encourage Egyptian expatriates to exchange their savings through the banks operating in Egypt instead of the unofficial market. These initiatives only bore their fruits after the CBE’s decision to float the pound and the subsequent disappearance of the black market.
