Egypt’s central bank records its first profit since 2016 pound float

Egypt’s central bank (CBE) made a profit in December for the first time since the devaluation of the local pound currency in late 2016.

The CBE posted a net profit of 1.058 billion Egyptian pounds ($34.5 million) as of the end of December 2022 in contrast with losses worth 114.238 billion pounds at the end of November 2022, its financial statements showed on Tuesday.

The central bank said it had applied an accounting treatment to deal with the effects of changing foreign exchange rates on the capital, reserves, retained losses, and net profits.

Retained losses were narrowed to 209.091 billion pounds at the end of December 2022 from 232.164 billion pounds at the end of November 2022.

Reserves stood at 189.718 billion pounds in December from 328.603 billion pounds in November,

In November 2016, the central bank decided to move to a liberalised exchange rate regime in order to quell any distortions in the domestic foreign currency market, affecting its budget and squeezing on its profits.