Economy Egypt’s current account deficit narrows to $5.3bn By Reuters July 26, 2023 Unsplash.com Egypt received 3.6 million tourists in the fourth quarter of 2023, rising 8 percent year on year Egypt’s current account deficit narrowed to $5.3 billion in July-March of 2022/23 driven by an increase in the revenues of tourism and the Suez Canal, the central bank said on Tuesday. This compared to $13.6 billion in the same period a year earlier. Remittances from Egyptians working abroad have dropped by 26.1 percent for the financial year. Bankers have previously told Reuters that more people repatriated funds by using the unofficial market, as the country struggles with a foreign currency crunch that sent the pound tumbling by 50 percent against the dollar. Egypt fuels private sector investment in Saudi industrial zones Egypt explores plans for new free zones Egypt’s currency slump deters startup investors Remittances stood at $17.5 billion in July-March, compared to $23.6 billion in the same period a year earlier. Tourism revenues totalled $10.3 billion, an increase of 25.7 percent from the same period a year earlier. The Suez Canal recorded $6.2 billion in revenues compared to $5.1 billion in the same period. Egypt’s net foreign direct investment inflows also rose to $7.9 billion compared to $7.3 billion in the same period a year earlier, the central bank added. Egypt has been working to ease its hard currency crisis, which has pushed official headline inflation to a record high, by curbing government spending and selling stakes in state assets worth a total of $1.9 billion. The stake sales are seen as crucial to Egypt’s chances of easing prolonged pressure on the Egyptian pound, attracting badly needed dollars, and launching economic reforms under a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. Egypt’s current account showed a surplus for the first time in years in the October-to-December quarter of FY 2022/23, which ended in June, imports dropped and exports rose, the central bank said.
