Egypt’s NIR hits 3-month high despite paying off $1.5bln foreign debt

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Egypt’s net foreign reserves (NIR) have surged for the third month in a row in November, despite paying off $1.5 billion of foreign debt, a banking source familiar with the matter revealed in an emailed press release on December 15th.

“The size of external debt is still at safe levels, as the debt-to-GDP ratio is at around 34.1%, while the maximum risky limit amounts to around 50%. The Egyptian banking sector has managed to secure dollar liquidity worth more than $5.3 billion from November until mid-December,” the source noted.

It is worth noting that Egypt’s NIR stood at $33.523 billion at the end of November, growing by $121 million from $33.411 billion at the end of October.

In the last three months, the North African country saw a robust growth of $390.4 million in NIR.

Likewise, Egypt’s gold reserves, which is a key component of foreign cash reserves, rose to $7,078 billion at the end of November from $6,612 billion at the end of October.

Moreover, foreign currencies listed in the country’s foreign reserves stood at $26.444 at the end of November.

The country’s dollar-dominated resources are also growing, with exports climbing by 53.1% to $43.9 billion during the financial year that ended in June 2022.

Additionally, the foreign direct investment inflows increased to nearly $9 billion, while the country’s tourism revenues surged by 121.1% to $10.7 billion, and its revenues from the Suez Canal recorded $7 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2021/2022.