The balance of foreign exchange reserves increased to US$ 34.806 billion by the end of June, compared to US$ 34.660 billion in May – an increase of US$146 million, the Central Bank of Egypt announced Friday.
The Central Bank of Egypt announced that the value of gold listed in foreign exchange reserves at the end of June amounted to about $7.738 billion, compared to $7.949 billion at the end of the previous May.
The CBE said that the value of foreign currencies included in the cash reserve rose to $27.044 billion at the end of June, compared to $26.686 billion at the end of May.
The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee decided, in its meeting held on June 22, to maintain the overnight deposit and lending return rates and the central bank’s main operation rate at the level of 18.25 percent, 19.25 percent, and 18.75 percent, respectively, and to maintain the credit and discount rate at the level of 18.75 percent.
The growth rate of real economic activity in Egypt reached 3.9 percent during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a growth rate of 4.4 percent during the third quarter of the same year.
Consequently, the first half of the fiscal year 2022-2023 recorded a growth rate of 4.2 percent.
Detailed data for the fourth quarter of 2022 shows that real GDP growth was driven by the positive contribution of net exports, in line with exchange rate developments.
Regarding the labor market, the unemployment rate decreased slightly to 7.1 percent during the first quarter of 2023, compared to an average of 7.2 percent during the previous quarter, mainly due to the increase in the number of workers.
The annual general and basic urban inflation rates were 32.7 percent and 40.3 percent in May 2023, respectively.
