Egypt Foreign Reserves Fall to $37 Bln Due to Pandemic

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Thursday the decline of its Foreign exchange reserves to $37 billion by the end of April, in light of the continued repercussions of the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

For the second month in a row, foreign direct investments (FDI) exit many emerging markets, including Egypt.

The Central Bank announced the decline in foreign reserves to reach at the end of April about $37,037 billion, compared to $40,108 billion at the end of March 2020.

The bank confirmed in a statement that the continuing repercussions of the coronavirus on the global markets for the second month in a row resulted in the exits of foreign fund investments from the Egyptian markets.

[caption id="attachment_125640" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Egypt's Foreign exchange reserves chart[/caption]

Egypt witnesses 20.5% drop in foreign reserves

The central bank added that the exist of investments continued during April, yet, at a lower rate From the previous month, which saw peak investment portfolios evaporate.

It is worth mentioning that the middle eastern country held $45,510 billion of foreign reserves last January to loose around $7,473 or 20.5% in 3 month due to the pandemic.

Three years after the decision to liberalize the Egyptian pound, increasing Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves was one of the most positive results of the economic reform program.

During the 2011 January Revolution, foreign reserves suffered from a sharp downturn that peaked in March 2013, recording about $ 13.6 billion.

It is noteworthy that the foreign reserves recorded about $ 36 billion ahead of the revolution, before being depleted in the years after the revolution; due to the decline of dollar sources, especially foreign direct investment (FDI) and tourism.