Gold holdings in Egypt’s foreign reserves hit 46.6 bln pounds in June

Egypt’s gold holdings have surged to $2.6 billion of foreign reserves, almost 46.6 billion Egyptian pounds, at the end of June 2017, the country’s central bank said Saturday.

In December 2016, gold holdings stood at around $2.3 billion, equivalent to 41.3 billion pounds.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced a week earlier that the country’s foreign reserves hiked to $31.305 billion by the end of March, from $31.125 billion in the month before.

Egypt’s foreign reserves have been rising since it clinched a $12 billion three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund in November in a bid to lure back foreign capital.

The currency composition of Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves is the U.S. dollar, euro; pound sterling; and Japanese yen.