Egypt reserves reach record high of over USD 36 billion

Egypt's foreign reserves reached 36.036 billion dollars in July, a record high, which the prime minister described as "good news" as it shows that the economy is recovering, the central bank said today.

The bank announced the increase in a brief statement saying that the figure is 4.7 billion dollars higher compared to the previous month. In December 2010, foreign reserves reached 36 billion dollars.

Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail hailed the increase of the foreign reserves saying, "this is an assuring message about the Egyptian economy and that we are capable of covering the needs of the Egyptian people."

"This means that the Egyptian economy has recovered," he said.

The rise comes after the government secured a USD 12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. In order to qualify for that loan, the government imposed a set of tough economic measures, including subsidy cuts and the flotation of its local currency.