Remittances of Egyptians abroad fall by 6%, foreign investment by 22%

Egypt’s financial year begins in July and lasts until June of the following year, according to the Egyptian Budget Law.

The Central Bank said that remittances of Egyptians working abroad fell to record $18.211 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2018/2019.

Remittances were $ 19.387 billion in the same period of the fiscal year 2017/2018.

Transit fees collected at the Suez Canal rose by 2.7 per cent to reach $ 4.273 billion during the same period, the Central Bank of Egypt reported

Despite Egypt’s package of incentives to encourage investors, net foreign direct investment declined by 22.8 per cent to about $ 4.646 billion.

In Early June 2017, Egypt issued an investment law, which, as then was declared, provides an incentive package for foreign investors, including a 50 per cent discount on the investment cost of the project when calculating the due taxes for projects working in places that are heavily in need to invest.

Egypt’s trade deficit widened to register $ 29.8 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2018/2019, compared to nearly $ 28 billion in the year before.

Egypt’s exports amounted to $ 20.9 billion, while imports amounted to $ 50.7 billion.

However, Merchandise exports revenues rose by 11.2 per cent to register $20.9 billion, CBE said, noting that oil exports rose by 14.6 per cent to stand at $8.5 billion. Source: Middle East Monitor