By: Heba El-Kordy
Cairo –Mubasher: Egypt’s foreign reserves are likely to increase in February after receiving the fifth tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $12 billion loan, economists told Mubasher.
On Monday, the IMF’s Executive Board had approved to deliver Egypt the fifth tranche of the $12 billion loan agreement signed in November 2016.
Esraa Ahmed, a senior economist at SHUAA Capital, projected that Egypt’s international reserves would rise remarkably in February as a result of receiving the fifth tranche of the IMF’s loan.
Foreign reserves are expected to reach between $44.5 billion and $45 billion by the end of this month, Ahmed said.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) posted that Egypt's foreign reserves rose to $42.61 billion at the end of January.
She added that the country's foreign reserves may exceed $48 billion at the end of February if the government issues Eurobonds.
Egypt’s international reserves are likely to range between $48 billion and $50 billion at the end of this fiscal year, she indicated.
The senior economist said that the reserves could surpass these levels seen at the end of fiscal year 2018/2019 if the government received the last tranche of the IMF’s loan.
Egyptian finance minister Mohamed Maait had announced that Egypt received the fifth tranche worth $2 billion of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $12 billion loan.
The IMF would conduct the final review of Egypt’s $12 billion loan programme next June.
Prior to the 25th January revolution in 2011, Egypt’s foreign reserves amounted to around $36 billion.
Translated by: Mai Ezz El-Din
