Egypt has cleared its FX backlog

Egypt has cleared its import, trade-finance FX backlog: In another milestone of the nascent economic recovery, Egypt has managed to clear its multi-bn USD FX backlog for imports and trade financing, an unnamed CBE official tells Bloomberg. Some USD 49 bn of trade-financing transactions were cleared between the EGP float and August, including USD 2.1 bn in requests made by importers and other businesses seeking to settle temporary overdrafts, the official said. Some USD 552 mn has been made available to foreign companies seeking to repatriate profits, following the CBE’s announcement that USD 1.2 bn in pending requests by multinationals have been cleared. “The figures confirm the economy is recovering and is increasingly able to generate more of its FX needs,” said Arqaam Capital’s Reham El Desoki. Increased transparency from the CBE, in line with its commitments to the IMF, would help reassure investors, she said. Net FX reserves reached their highest point ever in July, jumping to USD 36 bn, with the government expecting this number to rise this month, according to statements by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail yesterday, AMAY reports.