Central Bank of Egypt seeks to renew currency swap agreement with China

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is considering renewing a currency swap with China that saw China deposit CNY 18 bn (equivalent to around USD 2.6 bn) against the equivalent in EGP, which expired at the end of last year, Al Mal reports, citing unnamed sources. The CBE had signed a three-year agreement with China in December 2016, after the EGP float, as part of its program to line up pledges of deposits necessary to land a wider USD 12 bn assistance program from the IMF. Since then, Egypt’s foreign reserves have been steadily inching up reaching USD 45.42 bn at the end of December 2019.