Egypt’s net foreign assets deficit contracts $586m in April
Egypt commercial banks’ foreign assets climbed by $606m in April while their liabilities rose by $653m
Egypt’s net foreign assets (NFAs) deficit contracted by $586m in April, central bank data showed on Friday, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) paid an $820m loan instalment to the country early in the month.
The end-April NFA deficit shrank to EGP174bn Egyptian pounds ($3.68bn) from GBP200bn pounds at end-March, according to the data, the third straight month of decline.
UAE-Egypt deal
Egypt signed an $8bn financial support package with the IMF on March 6 after sharply devaluing its currency, triggering a flood of portfolio investments and remittances from workers abroad. It received a first $820m tranche from the IMF in early April.
The remittances, portfolio investments and a $24bn real estate investment from the UAE shrank the NFA deficit by $17.8bn in March and $7.04bn in February.
Egypt received an initial $5bn payment from the UAE for the development rights to land on the Mediterranean coast in February, another $5bn in early March and a final $14bn in early May.
Commercial banks’ foreign assets climbed by $606m in April while their liabilities rose by $653m, according to Reuters calculations based on central bank data.
Central bank foreign assets rose by $1.02 billion while foreign liabilities declined by $393bn.
NFAs represent both central bank and commercial bank assets held by non-residents, minus their liabilities.
Before the IMF agreement, the central bank had been drawing on NFAs more than two and a half years to help support the country’s currency. In September 2021, NFAs stood at a positive $3.9bn.
