Net foreign assets increase for the third month running, recording USD 15.4 bn in March

Net foreign assets in Egypt’s banking sector increased for the third consecutive month, coming at USD 15.04 bn in March, up c. 47.5% from February’s USD 10.2 bn, according to data (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt. The jump extends a rebound that came following a sharp three-month downturn during which net foreign assets fell to just USD 5.2 bn in December from USD 10.3 bn in September — a period marked by seasonal FX pressures and heightened USD demand.

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Commercial banks recorded their first surplus since August —- their net foreign assets came in at USD 2.5 bn in March, up from February’s USD 1.9 bn deficit. The improvement came as foreign assets continued increasing to USD 30.6 bn, while foreign liabilities remained flat at USD 28.1 bn.

The central bank recorded a net foreign asset surplus of USD 12.5 bn in March — an uptick from February’s USD 12.1 bn. Foreign assets inched up to USD 46.4 bn up from USD 46 bn the month before, while foreign liabilities saw a slight dip to USD 33.8 bn in March, from USD 33.9 bn a month earlier.

Surpassing last year’s peak: March’s figure surpass the 2024 high of USD 14.3 bn recorded last May — the May peak marked the first time that net foreign assets recorded a surplus in over two years, which followed the receipt of the second and final tranche of the USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma agreement bringing in some USD 14 bn of fresh inflows. Prior to that, the country had been in a sustained deficit since February 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered capital outflows of around USD 20 bn.