In December 2022, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) board approved a $3 billion loan for Egypt. Under this agreement, Egypt is committed to boost its various sources of foreign currency to close the estimated financing gap of $17 billion.

In this Factsheet, Arab Finance gives you a holistic view of the main sources of foreign currency inflows to Egypt and their performance in the second quarter (Q2) of the current fiscal year (FY).

• Egypt depends mainly on four sources to collect foreign currency, including merchandize exports and services exports including Suez Canal and tourism revenues, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, and remittances from Egyptians abroad.
• Merchandize exports, including both oil and non-oil exports, are Egypt’s top source of hard currency. In Q2 2022/23, the merchandize exports have fallen by 2.2% year-on-year (YoY) and collected $11.54 billion. Non-oil exports represented 57.5% of total exports, while oil exports accounted for the remaining 42.5%.
• Petroleum products, including natural gas, came on top of all exported Egyptian products, attracting $4.25 billion alone. Moreover, the European Union (EU) imports from Egypt generated foreign currency inflows of $3.7 billion.
• Service exports in Q2 2022/23 reached $9.7 billion, recording an annual growth rate of 41%. Egypt highly depended on transport and travel services, as combined represented 72% of services receipts. Notably, the Suez Canal revenues in Q2 2022/23 hit $2 billion, while tourism generated revenues of $3.2 billion.
• In 2022, Egypt was the top destination for mega projects in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, where the country attracted 148 projects and acquired a 41% market share in the region. FDI inflows to Egypt in the last three months of 2022 hit around $5.8 billion. This amount represents a 9.1% rise compared to the same period last year.
• The services sector denominated FDI inflows to Egypt and accounted for $2.2 billion in Q2 2022/23. In addition, 31% of FDI inflows to Egypt during the mentioned quarter came from Arab countries.
• Egyptians living and working abroad are considered a valuable source of foreign currency. In Q2 2022/23, remittances from expats reached $5.6 billion, falling from $7.4 billion a year earlier. From its side, the government has launched several initiatives to encourage expats to bring home more inflows, such as the initiative of exempting expats’ car imports from customs.
• On its road to diversifying the sources of foreign currency, the Egyptian government is currently working on securing around $2 billion from selling public enterprises and state-owned assets by the end of FY 2022/23. Selling these assets is taking place through the initial public offering (IPO) program by selling stakes in the sovereign fund of Egypt’s (TSFE) pre-IPO fund.
• Recently, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MPED) announced that Egypt targets collecting foreign currency equivalent to $83 billion in FY 2023/24 from four streams. Around $32 billion of the targeted foreign currency inflows will come from non-oil merchandize exports, $31 billion from expats’ remittances, $11 billion from FDI inflows, and $9 billion from Suez Canal revenues.

By: Amina Hussein

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