Egypt’s net foreign assets (NFAs) increased by $1.48 billion in February, marking the second monthly rise this year following consecutive declines in the final three months of 2024, according to data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
Based on official exchange rates provided by the CBE, calculations by Reuters showed that net foreign assets rose to the equivalent of $10.18 billion at the end of February, up from $8.70 billion in January.
A banking source attributed the increase to growing foreign investor purchases of Egyptian treasury bills. January also saw an uptick in foreign assets after the government issued $2 billion in international bonds—the country’s first dollar-denominated bond sale in four years.
Further growth in foreign assets is expected in March after the International Monetary Fund approved a $1.2 billion disbursement to Egypt, following the fourth review of its $8 billion economic reform program signed in March 2024. Last month’s IMF approval also unlocked an additional $1.3 billion under the Fund’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
Following Egypt’s fourth currency devaluation in March 2024, the overall net foreign asset position of Egyptian banks swung into surplus by about $14.29 billion in May—the first surplus in nearly 28 months. This turnaround came after the deficit had ballooned to nearly $29 billion by the end of January, just before the central bank’s latest reform measures.
However, the net foreign position of commercial banks alone (excluding the central bank) turned negative again in August due to renewed demand pressures for US dollars, just three months after the broader recovery.
In February, both the central bank and commercial banks recorded an increase in foreign assets. While the CBE’s foreign liabilities also grew during the month, those of commercial banks declined.
