Egypt’s foreign reserves slightly rose to $17.546 bln in June

Egypt’s net foreign reserves have slightly rose to $17.546 billion at the end of June, the central bank announced Wednesday. Reserves stood at $17.520 billion at the end of May.

The North African country has returned Friday to Qatar $1 billion deposited by the Gulf state to help prop up the Egyptian central bank’s hard currency reserves after the 2011 uprising.

It has also paid back an installment of $720 million out of $3.55 billion due to the nineteen-creditor Paris Club.

Egypt had roughly $36 billion in reserves before an uprising in 2011 overthrew Hosni Mubarak. That ushered in a period of political turmoil that scared away tourists and foreign investors, key sources of foreign exchange.