Foreign reserves hold steady in November: CBE

Foreign reserves inched up in November, closing the month at US$16.423 billion compared to $16.415 at the end of October, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced Thursday.

This is the second month reserves have been stable, following a September figure of $16.335 billion. But Egypt’s dollar supplies are still lower than August, when the country had $18.096 billion in reserves.

At a Wednesday meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, new CBE Governor Tarek Amer said the country’s foreign reserve position is “reassuring” and “stable,” and will improve in the coming months.

Amer also said the bank plans to inject more dollar liquidity into the market and to hold a special currency auction to supply importers with the dollars they need.

International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr said last month that Egypt expects to receive $1 billion in funding from the World Bank and $500 million from the African Development Bank before the end of December. Both loans will be channeled to support the state’s general budget, Nasr said, and are part of larger deals that will eventually see $3 billion from the World Bank and $1.5 billion from the African Development Bank.