Remittances jump 40% since flotation

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Mon, 30 Oct 2017 - 04:03 GMT

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Mon, 30 Oct 2017 - 04:03 GMT

A bank employee counts U.S. dollar notes- Reuters photo

A bank employee counts U.S. dollar notes- Reuters photo

CAIRO – 30 October 2017: International remittances of Egyptian workers abroad increased 40 percent since the flotation of the Egyptian pound last year, deputy chairman of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) Yehia Aboul Fotouh said Monday.

Speaking at a conference about foreign trade, Aboul Fotouh said that banking customers can now easily access foreign currencies from banks for any purposes.

“We are witnessing improvements in export values and tourism revenues as well,” the deputy chairman added.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) previously said that remittances grew from November to August by $2.4 billion (17.3 percent) to record $16.3 billion.

For the past fiscal year 2016/17, remittances registered $17.4 billion, inching up two percent, according to initial data obtained by Bloomberg in August.

Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Deputy Governor Rami Abul Naga said on Saturday that the foreign currency collected by banks since floating the Egyptian pound in November last year increased to reach $52 billion.

On November 3, the CBE floated the local currency with the aim of overcoming a sharp foreign currency shortage and a thriving dollar black market which squeezed the economy and discouraged foreign investors, exporters and Egyptian expatriates.

This indicates that the flotation has succeeded in attracting Egyptian expatriates into transferring their cash back through the banking system instead of the informal channels that had been active before the exchange rate liberalization.

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