Egypt forex reserves hit $19 billion

Egypt's foreign reserves jumped in July to their highest in 20 months, the central bank said yesterday, boosted by $5 billion that Gulf states sent to Egypt after the army removed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi from power on July 3.

Reserves stood at $18.88bn at the end of July, up from $14.92bn a month earlier.

The figure is the highest since November 2011, but it nonetheless shows that Egypt continues to bleed foreign currency to defend the Egyptian pound.

Part of the drain was due to a payment of about $650 million Egypt had to pay in July to service Paris Club debt, according to another economist.