The Central Bank of Egypt announced that Egypt’s net foreign reserves would fall to $40.1 billion at the end of March, compared to $45.5 billion last month. CBE said that it used about $5.4 billion of international monetary reserves to cover the Egyptian market’s needs for foreign exchange, to cover the decline of foreign investments and international portfolios, and to ensure the import of strategic goods, in addition to paying international obligations on the country’s external debt.

CBE indicated that the current reserve is still able to cover Egypt’s imports for a period of eight months, bypassing international rates that do not exceed three months in some countries. CBE praised the government’s economic reform policy, which helped bring the reserves to $45 billion last month, which helped Egypt withstand the economic repercussions of the coronavirus.

Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves witnessed a boom in the past three years due to the government’s expansion in external borrowing, the addition of loan proceeds to cash reserves, and the improvement of tourism sector revenues from foreign exchange.