Bank: Remittances of expatriate Egyptians up 41%

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed yesterday that the total remittances from expatriate Egyptians increased 41.2 per cent in April to reach $2.3 billion compared to  $1.7 billion in April 2017.

The bank said in a statement that the total remittances from expatriate Egyptians increased by 48.2 per cent – or $8.5 billion – during the period from July 2017 to April 2018.

According to the statement, this is one of the most important results of the Central Bank’s decision in November 2016 to float the Egyptian pound.

Egypt agreed with the IMF in 2016 for a three-year $12 billion loan to endorse the country’s fiscal reform programme. The government of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi embarked on its reforms in 2014 in an attempt to curb the growing state budget deficit.

Since then, it has been implementing extensive economic reforms on a nationwide basis. The first step saw Egypt float its currency and cut subsidies on basic necessities, leading to increased inflation and poverty.

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