Egypt’s financial situation stronger now than before 2010: CBE governor

Central Bank of Egypt Governor Tarek Amer said on Tuesday that Egypt’s financial status is currently stronger than it was before 2010, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Egypt has been suffering from a severe economic crisis since the 2011 revolution, with a shortage in foreign currency reserves and liquidity. The government has been implementing an economic reform programme over the past two years, including floating the currency and cutting energy subsidies.

Egypt’s foreign reserves registered $36.535 billion at the end of September 2017, the highest since 2010.

During a speech in front of the Egyptian-Canadian business council, Amer said that the GDP increase rate in 2017 has reached 5 percent, and that Egypt has become among the top 10 emerging markets.

Amer also said that the trade balance deficit has gone down from 32 billion pounds to 20 billion pounds in the past period, and he expects further improvement with the increased flow of foreign currency.

Amer also said that the inflation rate has shown a decrease throughout this financial year 2017/2018 and is expected to return to normal rates by next financial year.

He also said that the flow of foreign currency has increased in the three past months, reaching $940 million compared to $220 million in the same period last year.

The CBE governor added that there are still challenges facing the Egyptian economy, including the increase in external debt. Source: Ahram online