The Central Bank of Egypt revealed that the deficit in current transactions increased to $2.8 billion in the quarter from July to September, from $1.4 billion during the same period in 2019, after the Coronavirus pandemic led to a collapse in revenues in tourism and a decline in investment in oil and gas.
According to the Central Bank, current transactions in the balance of payments witnessed an improvement in the deficit level by 27.2% compared to the immediate previous quarter (April/June 2020), reaching about $2.8 billion (compared to about $3.8 billion). It also doubled compared to the corresponding quarter (July/September 2019, which recorded a deficit of about $1.4 billion) due to the shock to the tourism sector, whose revenues were limited to about $0.8 billion (compared to about $4.2 billion).
Net foreign direct investment decreased 31% year-on-year to $1.6 billion, after net investments in the oil and gas sector shrank to minus $75.3 million from positive $744.2 million a year ago. On the other hand, remittances of Egyptian workers abroad rose by 19.6% to $8 billion during the quarter. The overall balance registered a deficit of $69.2 million, compared to a surplus of $227 million a year earlier.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
