CBE: Egypt Foreign Reserves Fall Slightly In September

Egypt’s International Foreign Reserves saw a minor decline of roughly $200 million in September, reaching $18.7 billion compared to $18.9 the month before, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Thursday.

The CBE held its largest exceptional auction in early September, selling $1.3 billion from its foreign reserves to cover strategic imports such as wheat, meat, and cooking oil.

The CBE says its foreign exchange auctions – which began at the end of December 2012 – are part of the effort to stave off local currency devaluation.

Egypt has returned to Qatar $2 billion that the Gulf state deposited to CBE earlier in the year, after negotiations to convert the funds into three-year bonds broke down.

In late September, CBE received a $2 billion deposit from Kuwait as part of $4 billion pledged by the oil-rich nation to bolster the flailing Egyptian economy following former president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in July.

Source: Ahram