$1.44bn increase in foreign reserves to $44.06bn end-February: CBE

Hossam Mounir
3 Min Read

The foreign exchange reserves at the CBE have increased by $1.44bn by the end of February 2019, reaching $44.06bn, compared to $42.617bn by end of January 2019.

The foreign exchange reserves recorded an all-time high by the end of November 2019, when they reached $44.51bn.

The CBE has not revealed the reason behind the increase in reserves in February.

Moreover, the CBE revealed last week an increase in net foreign assets in the Egyptian banking sector in January 2019 for the first time, after a wave of decline that lasted for six months.

The CBE’s data showed that the total foreign assets in the sector recorded about EGP 981.86bn by the end of January, an equivalent of $55.45bn, compared to EGP 950.55bn, an equivalent of $52.93bn, by the end of December, with a $2.52bn increase.

The data explained that the total dues in the foreign currency in the CBE and the banking sector recorded EGP 832.36bn, an equivalent of $47.014bn by end of January, compared to EGP  823.15bn, an equivalent of $45.84bn by end of December, with a $1.2bn increase.

The report showed that foreign assets in the CBE recorded a limited decline in January, reaching $41.52bn, compared to $41.55bn by end of December.

Furthermore, the dues in foreign currencies have increased in the CBE, reaching $28.65bn by the end of January, compared to $28.08bn by the end of December, which is a $578m increase.

The net foreign assets in the CBE recorded $12.87bn by end of January, compared to $13.47bn by the end of December.

According to the CBE, the deficit of net foreign assets in banks have declined for the second month in a row, recording $4.42bn, compared to $6.37bn.

The CBE attributed the decline to an improvement in foreign assets in banks, to record $13.92bn compared to $11.38bn, while the dues have increased to $18.355bn, compared to $17.76bn.

The support that foreign assets in banks received in January came as a result of an increase in foreign investments in debt instruments, to record an increase of nearly $2.49bn, reaching $13.20bn, compared to $10.70bn by the end of December.

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