Remittances from Egyptians Abroad Drop to $6.4 Billion

Remittances from Egyptians abroad recorded $6.4 billion compared to $8.1 billion, year-on-year, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

In a recent report on the balance of payments during Q1 of FY2022/23, the Central Bank stated that the deficit in the balance of investment income increased by 16.8%, to record $4.5 billion, compared to $3.9 billion during the corresponding period.

The Central Bank indicated that investment income payments increased by $815.4 million, to record about $4.8 billion, compared to $4 billion in the comparative period, as a result of the increase in profits achieved for foreign investment in Egypt and the increase in interest on payments for external debt.

It pointed to an increase in investment income receipts by $163.8 million to record $275.8 million, compared to $112 million, as a main result of the increase in interest on residents' deposits with banks abroad.

The report pointed out that the current account deficit decreased by 20.2% during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (2022/23) to fall to $3.2 billion, compared to $4 billion during the same period of the previous year.

The report attributed the decline to the increase in both tourism revenues and the proceeds of commodity exports (oil and non-petroleum), in addition to the escalation in the proceeds of traffic fees in the Suez Canal.

It stated that the capital and financial transactions account recorded a net inflow of $4.4 billion, as a result of the net inflow of foreign direct investment in Egypt doubling to $3.3 billion.

Investments in the stock portfolio in Egypt witnessed the exit of non-residents to record a net outflow of $2.2 billion, coinciding with the Fed's deflationary monetary policies, resulting in an overall surplus in the balance of payments of $523.5 million.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) in non-oil sectors rose to $3.6 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (2022-2023), compared to $2.2 billion as a main result of the increase in the proceeds of selling companies and productive assets to non-residents, to record about $1 billion, compared to $56.7 million during the period, according to the balance of payments report.

The report issued by the CBE a short time ago indicated that the net investments received to establish new companies or increase the capital of existing companies amounted to about $1 billion compared to $464.7 million during the period, and the net retained profits stabilized at $1.4 billion.