Egypt’s present account deficit drops by half in April-June quarter By Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s present account deficit fell by virtually half within the April-June quarter as non-oil imports tumbled by almost 20% from the earlier quarter, the central financial institution stated in stability of funds figures launched on Wednesday.

Imports have been affected by an acute scarcity of international forex since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, partly due to a flight of {dollars} from Egyptian treasury markets and a drop in Russian and Ukrainian vacationers.

The present account deficit declined to $2.96 billion from $5.79 in January-March and $5.13 billion in April-June a 12 months earlier, the central financial institution knowledge stated.

Non-oil imports in April-June dropped by $3.84 billion from the Jan-March quarter to $16.69 billion. This compares to $16.74 billion in April-June 2021.

Tourism receipts elevated to $2.56 billion from $1.75 billion a 12 months earlier as journey recovered from the affect of COVID-19, whilst Russian and Ukrainian vacationers numbers fell off sharply after the Ukraine disaster.

Remittance funds from Egyptians working overseas climbed to $8.28 billion in April-June from $8.05 billion a 12 months prior, whereas Suez Canal income rose to $1.91 from $1.56 billion.

The figures confirmed that outflow of portfolio investments associated to the Ukraine conflict slowed to a internet 3.74 billion from $14.75 billion in January-March. This compares to a internet influx of $2.76 billion a 12 months earlier.

Internet international direct funding rose to $1.59 billion from $427.2 million in April-June 2021, partly the results of the gross sales of state property to Gulf funding funds. Egypt earned $4.08 billion in Jan-March of this 12 months, partly from related gross sales.