The Central Bank of Egypt will announce within hours the size of the foreign exchange reserve balances for the month of November, amid expectations that the foreign exchange reserve will continue to rise.
Continuous growth of foreign exchange reserves
The Central Bank of Egypt announced, for the tenth consecutive month during 2024, that foreign exchange reserve balances increased by about $11.7 billion, reaching $46.941 billion at the end of last October, compared to $35.250 billion at the end of January 2024.
Components of foreign exchange reserves
Egypt’s foreign reserve consists of a basket of major international currencies, including the US dollar, the single European currency euro, the British pound, the Japanese yen, and the Chinese yuan, a percentage of which Egypt’s holdings are distributed on the basis of the exchange rates of those currencies and the extent of their stability in international markets, and it changes according to a plan drawn up by Officials of the Central Bank of Egypt.
The main function of the foreign exchange reserve at the Central Bank, with its components of gold and various international currencies, is to provide basic commodities, pay installments and interests on foreign debts, and confront economic crises, in exceptional circumstances, with resources from sectors generating hard currency being affected.
Important numbers
The total non-governmental deposits in local currency with banks operating in the local market increased to 7.307 trillion pounds by the end of October 2024, compared to 6.247 trillion pounds by the end of December 2023.
In a recent report, the Central Bank revealed that the volume of demand deposits in local currency reached 1.614 trillion pounds at the end of last October, compared to 1.301 trillion pounds at the end of December 2023.
According to the Central Bank, the public business sector’s share of those deposits amounted to 107.434 billion pounds, the private sector 907.222 billion pounds, and the family sector 600.035 billion pounds at the end of last October.
The Central Bank revealed that the volume of time deposits and savings certificates in local currency reached about 5.693 trillion pounds at the end of last October, compared to 4.946 trillion pounds at the end of 2023, pointing out that the public business sector acquired about 65.393 billion pounds of those deposits, the private sector 325.964 billion pounds, and the family sector. 5.301 trillion pounds.
