Main Goods Imports Drive Egypt’s Foreign Reserves Down By US$ 84 Mln

The Central Bank of Egypt’s foreign reserves fell US$ 84 million to reach US$ 13.424 billion at the end of last March, compared to US$ 13.508 billion at the end of last February.

CBE announced from days that it used US$ 1.3 billion for imports including basic commodities and petroleum. Despite that, the reserves of foreign currency at the central bank did not fall significantly in March, thanks to good management of foreign currency resources and uses.

Through the auctions the government is rationing its supply of dollars and giving priority to importers of essential goods, including supply commodities, petroleum materials, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and pesticides as well as intermediate machines, equipments and goods.

CBE had earlier revealed that it US$ 35 billion had gone towards the country’s main requirements during the period from January 2011 to December 2012 as follows: US$ 14 billion for petroleum imports, US$ 8 billion for foreign debt repayment and US$ 13 billion for foreigners disinvesting from the local debt market. Accordingly, the country’s foreign reserves fell from US$ 36 billion at the beginning of January 2011 to low levels.

The value CBE’s gold reserves reached US$ 3.3 billion, while its foreign currency liquidity reached US$ 8.9 billion at the end of last January.

The values of net international reserves held by the Central bank of Egypt since December 2010 are as follows: