Remittances from Egyptian expats decreased this year by about EGP 2.6 billion from last year, according to a report issued by the World Bank in October.
The report expected that Egyptian remittances would reach $24.6 billion by the end of this year, which is less than last year when remittances were recorded at $29 billion compared with $18.2 billion in 2017, according to a previous World Bank report.
The central bank liberalised the exchange rate in November 2016 and said about 72 per cent of the last quarter’s 2016 transfers, about $3.3 billion, came after the decision to float the pound, according to Reuters.
Egyptian expatriates’ remittances are one of the country’s most important foreign exchange sources as well as tourism and revenues from the Suez Canal.
Globally, remittances to middle and lower income countries are expected to increase to $551 billion by the end of 2019, an annual increase of 4.7 per cent over last year, which witnessed transfers of $529 billion.
