Egypt’s foreign reserves declined to US$36.04 billion in May, compared to $37.04 billion in April and $40.108 in March, a Sunday statement by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced.
The CBE said that dissociation of foreign fund investments from Egyptian and emerging markets increased in April compared to March as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Foreign reserves were $45.51 billion in February, the CBE added.
The CBE’s Deputy Governor Ramy Aboul-Naga announced in May that the nation’s foreign currency reserves are still at “safe” levels despite declining for the second consecutive month to about $37.04 billion at the end of April compared to about $40.11 billion at the end of March: a fall of roughly $3.1 billion.
The CBE used $3.1 billion from the foreign reserves during April to cover the Egyptian market’s foreign currency needs guaranteeing the import of strategic goods alongside paying international obligations related to the country’s external debt; estimated at about $1.6 billion.
This included international bonds amounting to a billion dollars as well as the exit of some investors through the CBE’s mechanism for transferring money from foreign investors.
