Remittances from Egypt expats recorded sudden decline in July

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has said that remittances from Egyptian workers abroad were $2.38 billion in July 2022, compared to about $2.79 billion in July 2021.

However, the CBE stated that the remittances recorded $18.72 billion from January to July 2022, compared to $18.69 billion during the same months of 2021, with an increase of $22.6 million.

Remittances of Egyptian expatriates, the CBE said, recorded the highest level in history during the fiscal year 2021/2022 with $31.9 billion.

Arabi21 said that remittances of Egyptian expatriates are considered the largest source of cash money for Egypt followed by exports, tourism and Suez Canal revenues.

The decrease in remittances recorded in July coincided with a sharp decline of the value of the Egyptian pound and the retreat of cash reserves in the country.

READ: Egypt expat remittances rise to $31.9bn

Egypt has been suffering from large decrease of foreign investment, escape of about $20 billions of hot money and retreat of sales of national bonds by 38 per cent between the start of this year and July, according to Bloomberg.

At the same time, the retreat of remittances coincided with increasing reports about Egypt’s heading to the edge of bankruptcy in light of severe financial crises hitting the country at a time the Egyptian government is unable to pay its debts.

In August, the International Bank revealed that Egypt needed $31 billion to pay its foreign debts due between July 2022 and March 2023, in addition to $16 billion due between April and June 2022.

Egypt is currently seeking to borrow billions from the International Bank.