Egypt’s central bank says $100 bln cash flow into banks since pound float

Cash inflows into Egypt’s banking system totalled more than $100 billion since Egypt floated its currency in November, Egypt’s central bank governor, Tarek Amer said Tuesday.

Egypt’s foreign reserves rose by some $18 billion in 14 months, or since the country floated its currency in November 2016, to record $37 billion in December 2017, compared to only $19 billion in October 2016, CBE data showed.

He made these comments during ‘Seamless North Africa’ hosted in Egypt to bolster the digital economy. The two-day conference is being organised by the CBE, the Council of Arab Economic Unity, the League of Arab States, and the Arab Federation of e-Commerce.

Egypt floated the pound to help attract foreign capital as part of a three-year $12-billion International Monetary Fund loan.

The conference will mainly focus on financial technology (FinTech), payment, and e-commerce. It will hold a competition on the sidelines involving local and international startups to promote innovative ideas that could revolutionise the Egyptian FinTech industry.