Net foreign asset surplus in the Egyptian banking system rose 6% to record USD 10.31 bn in September, up from USD 9.7 bn in August, according to EnterpriseAM calculations based on Central Bank of Egypt figures. The figures represent Egypt’s fifth consecutive month in the green and a turn-around from August, which saw net foreign asset surplus fall 27%. The country’s banking system has maintained a surplus since May, when net foreign assets shifted from deficit to surplus for the first time since February 2022.

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Commercial banks saw improvement, but remained in the negative: Net foreign assets in commercial banks remained in the red, coming in at a deficit of around USD 132 mn, up from a deficit of USD 536 mn in August. Assets rose 3.3% to USD 28.5 bn, offsetting a 1.8% rise in liabilities — which rose to around USD 28.6 bn.

The central bank was in the green despite shrinking assets: The CBE saw a 1.7% increase in net foreign asset surplus in September, which rose to USD 10.4 bn, up from USD 10.3 bn in August. Assets fell by USD 109 mn to USD 45.2 bn, while liabilities fell by around USD 64 mn to USD 34.7 bn.

Remember: Net foreign asset deficit in the Egyptian banking system reached its all-time high back in January, recording USD 29.0 bn, before gradually dropping in the months that followed following the Ras El Hekma agreement, the float of the EGP, and later foreign portfolio inflows.

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