Egypt continues to reap the benefits of rebalancing, reform programme

gypt’s economic gains are still most evident on the external front. The Central Bank of Egypt’s net FX reserves ended 2017 at a record high of $37bn the equivalent of six months of import cover.

Portfolio foreign investment into local treasury bills moderated, but continued to gain,offering support to the external account.

The current account deficit has also narrowed and recorded its smallest quarterly shortfall in three years in Q3 2017, helped by stronger exports,

worker’s remittances, and tourism receipts. This has given the central bank enough confidence to remove some of the last of capital controls implemented to deter outflows in the aftermath of the revolution, as well as increasing the cost of the FX repatriation mechanism that had encouraged foreign investors to return to Egypt.