The country’s net foreign asset surplus shrank 10% to USD 12.9 bn in June, down from USD 14.3 bn in May, according to Enterprise calculations based on Central Bank of Egypt figures. The decline comes a month after our net foreign assets shifted from deficit to surplus — the first time our net foreign asset position had been in the green since February 2022.

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Commercial bank outflows drove the decline: The net foreign asset surplus at commercial banks shrank 41.0% from the month before in June to USD 2.7 bn on the back of a nearly USD 2.0 bn drop in assets and insignificant dip in liabilities.

But it was still a good month for the central bank: The decline was offset by a 4.8% m-o-m increase in the CBE’s net foreign assets to USD 10.2 bn in June. The central bank saw its liabilities drop USD 716 mn to USD 34.2 bn, while its foreign assets fell USD 250 mn to USD 44.4 bn.

We’re a long way away from where we were a few months ago: Despite the slight dip, net foreign assets remain happily in surplus after over two years in the red following the flight of nearly USD 20 bn as a result of the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Remember: Egypt’s net foreign asset deficit hit an all-time high back in January, recording USD29.0 bn, before starting to gradually drop in the months that followed following the Ras El Hekma agreement, float of the EGP, and the flood of inflows that followed.

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