The report on the external situation of the Egyptian economy issued by the Central Bank of Egypt on Tuesday revealed that tourism revenues increased by 5.5% to 14.4 billion US dollars (compared to 13.6 billion US dollars), thanks to an increase in the number of tourist nights by 5.5% to 154.1 million nights, and an increase in the number of tourists. Arrivals increased by 7.4% to 14.9 million tourists.
Services revenues decreased by 12.5% to reach approximately US$30.2 billion (compared to approximately US$34.6 billion), driven by the following developments:
Transport revenues decreased by 23.5% to record about 10.7 billion US dollars (compared to about 14.0 billion US dollars), as a main result of the decrease in Suez Canal transit revenues by 24.3% to record about 6.6 billion US dollars (compared to about 8.8 billion US dollars), as a result of the decrease in The net tonnage increased by 29.6% to reach about 1.1 billion tons, and the number of ships passing by increased by 22.2%. The decline in revenues was concentrated in the second half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year (61.7%), recording only about 1.8 billion US dollars. This decline resulted from disturbances in maritime traffic in the Red Sea, which forced many commercial shipping companies to divert their shipping routes.
Government services revenues decreased by 51.8% to just $1.1 billion (compared to $2.4 billion), mainly as a result of lower other government services revenues.
Other services revenues decreased 12.2% to $4.0 billion (compared to $4.6 billion), due to lower revenues from construction and contractor services, communications services, advertising and market research services, and insurance services.
On the other hand, payments for services increased by 25.8% to reach about 15.9 billion US dollars (compared to 12.6 billion US dollars), as a result of the increase in all their items as follows:
Payments for other services increased by 56.0% to reach about US$5.7 billion (compared to US$3.6 billion), as a result of higher payments for construction and contractor services, maintenance, inspection and rental of machinery, amounts transferred abroad by foreign oil companies, computer services, and magazine subscriptions. Newspapers, communications services, and insurance services.
Payments for government services increased 46.4% to $1.8 billion (compared to $1.2 billion), reflecting higher payments for other government services.
Transport payments increased by 18.6% to reach $3.3 billion (compared to $2.8 billion), mainly as a result of the increase in amounts transferred abroad to foreign airline companies, amounts transferred to repair Egyptian aircraft at foreign airports, amounts transferred abroad to foreign shipping companies, and amounts transferred to lease aircraft.
Travel payments increased by 2.4% to reach $5.1 billion (compared to $5.0 billion), mainly as a result of the increase in travel expenses and payments by tourism companies and hotels abroad, despite the decrease in electronic card payments abroad.
The investment income deficit widened by 1.3% to reach $17.5 billion (from $17.3 billion) as a result of the following reasons:
– Investment income receipts decreased by 9.7% to reach $1.9 billion (compared to $2.1 billion), mainly due to a decrease in profits transferred from Egyptian oil companies operating abroad, and interest and dividends on bonds and securities.
– Investment income payments stabilized at $19.5 billion, as the decrease in foreign direct investment profits and interest and profits on non-resident investments in Egyptian bonds and securities offset the increase in interest paid on external debt.
