Central Bank of Egypt announces increase in net foreign assets

The net foreign assets of the Egyptian banking system jumped by approximately US$1.5 billion during February, reaching $10.17 billion, compared to $8.7 billion at the end of January—an increase of more than 17 percent, according to data published on the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)’s website.

This change represents the net transactions of the banking system (including the CBE) with the outside world during the relevant period.

The increase in net foreign assets enhances the banking system’s ability to meet the demand for foreign currency, thus stabilizing the exchange market and the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate against other currencies.

The CBE said that the banking system’s total foreign assets rose to $72.04 billion by the end of February, an increase of $870 million from the previous month of January, which reached a total of $71.2 billion.

Liabilities decreased by $608 million to $61.87 billion, compared to $62.48 billion during the same period.