CAIRO: Egypt’s net international reserves plunged to $18.533 billion at July-end, from $20.079 billion a month earlier, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced Wednesday.
The reserves shed around $1.546 billion in July, the lowest level since March when they stood at $15.291 billion.
Earlier in July, Egypt repaid a $670 million six-month premium on the foreign debt owed to the Paris Club.
At April- end, the reserves had surged to $20.5 billion upon receiving $6 billion worth of deposits from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2015.
Gulf countries promised a total of $12.5 billion in aid and investments to Cairo during the three-day economic summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh March 13-15.
Egypt’s foreign reserves saw a severe shortfall over the past four year as tourism revenues and foreign direct investments tummled over political turmoil following the January 25 Revolution which toppled Former Minister Hosni Mubarak in 2011, when they were valued at $35.8 billion.
The foreign reserve allows the government to purchase basic commodities, such as wheat and petroleum products, and to pay off premiums and interest on foreign debts