International currency reserves dropped from US$16,039 billion at the end of May to US$14,921 billion at the end of June, the Central Bank of Egypt said on its website on Sunday.
CBE governor Hesham Ramez left Cairo for Abu Dhabi Sunday morning for economic talks with Emirati officials, a visit on which it is believed he will seek out emergency aid from the Gulf kingdom amid domestic political tensions.
Last week, the Egyptian Army overthrew President Mohamed Morsy and appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, interim president, tasking him with implementing a road map that includes early presidential elections. The measure was in response to mass protests calling for Morsy’s resignation, as well as protests by his Islamist supporters who were defending his legitimacy.
Egypt’s international reserves have slumped from US$36 billion in early 2011 to US$15 billion today. Economists believe that, at this rate, the country’s imports will be maintained for only three more months.
Egypt has suffered from an exodus of investors and a fall in tourism due to political instability and insecurity that has followed the overthrow of former president Mubarak in 2011.
Since December 2012, the CBE has been offering local banks periodic auctions for selling or buying US dollars, a step taken to attempt to control the amount of foreign reserves and ration its consumption.
