CBE: Monetary Reserve Retreat

The net international reserves retreated to some $ 13.6 billion by the end of January 2013, enough to cover the commodity imports for three months. A Central bank of Egypt (CBE) report said the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the world registered $ 20.8 billion during the first quarter of FY 2012-2013, while the proceeds of commodity exports hit some $ 6.9 billion, against $ 13.8 billion in imports’ payments. The external debt surged by $ 335.4 million, up by 1 per cent, to record some $ 34.7 billion due to the high exchange rate of US dollar, while the local public debt totaled LE 1.3 trillion at the end of last September.