Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's balance of payments (BOP) recorded a lower deficit of $351.2 million during the first nine months of fiscal year 2018/2019, supported by an overall surplus of $1.4 billion, official data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed.
From July 2018 to last March, the current account deficit stood at $7.6 billion, while the capital and financial account registered a net inflow of $7.8 billion.
Meanwhile, merchandise exports rose by 11.2% to $20.9 billion in the nine-month period ended 31 March, compared to $18.8 billion, curbing the increase in trade deficit.
Oil exports hiked by 41.6% to $8.5 billion in the July-March period of FY18/19 from $6 billion on the back of the increase in the exports of natural gas and oil products.
On the other hand, non-oil exports slid by 3.1% to $12.4 billion from $12.8 billion, pressured by a drop in gold exports.
In the meantime, the services surplus soared by 25.64% to $9.8 billion, compared to $7.8 billion.
