The Central Bank of Egypt's net foreign assets (NFAs) deficit fell in March to its lowest in more than two years, apparently helped by a giant sale of property development rights and a reform of the currency, data posted on the CBE website showed.

The NFA deficit plunged to 65.38 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.39 billion) as of the end of March from 270.65 billion a month before and 352.49 billion at end-January.

Egypt received $5 billion in late February and another $5 billion in early March from the sale to Abu Dhabi of development rights to prime real estate at Ras El Hikma on the Mediterranean coast, part of a deal that will ultimately reach $35 billion.

On March 6 Egypt allowed its currency to weaken as part of an $8 billion International Monetary Fund support package. The pound now trades at about 47.5 pounds to the dollar, down from 30.85 pounds where it had been fixed for nearly a year.

The devaluation prompted foreign investors to pour billions of dollars into local treasuries and Egyptians expatriates to send more money home.

The central bank's NFAs had slipped into a deficit of 93.39 billion Egyptian pounds in March 2022 from a surplus of 134.35 billion the month before, after the Ukrainian crisis spurred foreign investors to pull funds out of Egyptian treasuries.

Egypt has yet to release March NFA data for the banking sector as a whole. That deficit shrank by 217.1 billion Egyptian pounds in February to 679 billion, according to central bank data.

($1 = 48.3625 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Patrick Werr; Editing by David Holmes)