Net International Reserves climb despite Egypt paying off large sums of debt to show steady recovery

Despite Egypt’s recent significant payments to pay off outstanding debts, the country’s growing international reserves display a positive trend in the economy’s recovery

By: Business Today Egypt

Sun, Jul. 7, 2024

Egypt’s net international reserves (NIRs) rose to around $46.383 billion at the end of June, an increase of $258 million compared to May’s $46.126 billion, according to the latest Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) data.

Foreign currency reserves saw a slight uptick in June, climbing to $36.8 billion from May’s $36.5 billion.

Gold reserves dipped last month to $9.4 billion, down from $9.5 billion the month before.

Despite Egypt’s recent significant payments to pay off outstanding debts, the country’s growing international reserves display a positive trend in the economy’s recovery.

Egypt’s external debt fell by 4.4% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, reaching around $160.6 billion by the end of March

Net foreign assets deficit in the banking sector recently surged to a surplus of $14.3 billion from a negative $29 billion, its first surplus in almost 2 years.

The country’s NFAs have been in the red since February 2022, after the Russian/Ukraine war triggered $20 billion worth of capital outflows as foreign investors pulled out amid concerns of local and global economic stability.

Since February this year, Egypt has secured over $58 billion in external financing commitments from international financial institutions and development partners, helping the country out of a significant 2-year FX shortage.

Agreements include the expansion of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) from the IMF to $8 billion, the World Bank’s pledge of 6 billion, another $8 billion from the European Union, and, of course, the $35 billion deal for the development rights to Ras El Hekma with the UAE.

The European Union agreed to provide €1 billion ($1.07 billion), part of its €7.4 billion ($8 billion) pledge, in short-term financial aid during the Egypt-EU Investment Conference in June to help stabilize the country's economy.