Egypt Current Account Deficit Narrowed To $232.7 Mln At End-March

Egypt’s current account was in surplus between January and March, according to Reuters calculations, helping narrow the overall budget deficit three-quarters of the way through the financial year.

The current account deficit was $232.7 million at the end of March, Egypt’s central bank said in a balance of payments statement on Wednesday, having narrowed from a deficit of $5.7 billion a year earlier. Egypt’s fiscal year starts on July 1.

Reuters calculations showed a surplus of $523.1 million in the January-March period, driven by a rise in remittances and other payments from abroad, including aid.

The central bank said such transfers had increased to $23.6 billion over the first nine months of the financial year, from $14.4 billion at the same point a year before, “supported mainly by the rise in net official transfers (commodity and cash)”.

Egypt has received billions of dollars worth of aid from Gulf Arab countries since Islamist Mohamed Mursi, the country’s first elected president, was ousted last July.

The trade deficit declined by 1.5 percent to $25.2 billion from $25.6 billion a year earlier, the central bank said, as a 4.2 percent rise in merchandise exports – to around $18.8 billion – outpaced the 0.8 percent rise in merchandise imports.

Foreign direct investment in Egypt rose to $4.7 billion in the first nine months compared with $3.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, the central bank said.

Source : Reuters