The Banking Executive Magazine - July 2024 Issue

Egyptian Remittances Egyptian Remittances INCREASE TO $2.7BLN IN MAY 2024: CBE The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has reported that remittances from Egyp- tians working abroad surged to $2.7bn in May 2024, marking a re- markable year-on-year growth rate of 73.8%. This substantial increase fol- lows three consecutive months of growth and represents a significant boost from the approximately $1.6bn recorded in May 2023. In their statement released on Mon- day, the Central Bank highlighted that remittances also saw a month- on-month increase of 26.6% in May 2024 compared to April 2024, dur- ing which they totalled around $2.2bn. Notably, this surge in remit- tances coincided with a series of economic reforms implemented on March 6, 2024. Remittances from Egyptians abroad play a crucial role in Egypt’s econ- omy, serving as one of the largest sources of foreign currency. These in- flows are second only to export rev- enues. Before the economic reforms, a significant portion of these remit- tances flowed through the parallel currency market due to a substantial difference in the dollar exchange rate between the parallel market and the official market. However, with the re- cent reforms, remittances have started returning to official channels, including banks and exchange com- panies. A recent report by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics sheds light on the cumula- tive value of remittances from Egyp- tians working abroad over the past decade. The annual breakdown is as follows: $18.5bn in 2013/2014, ris- ing to $19.3bn in 2014/2015 (a 4.4% increase). Subsequently, remittances declined to $17.1bn in 2015/2016 (an 11.7% decrease) but rebounded to $21.8bn in 2016/2017 (a 27.7% increase). The trend continued with further growth: $26.4bn in 2017/2018 (a 21% increase), fol- lowed by a dip to $25.2bn in 2018/2019 (a 4.7% decrease). How- ever, remittances climbed to $27.8bn in 2019/2020 (a 10.4% increase), $31.4bn in 2020/2021 (a 13.2% in- crease), and $31.9bn in 2021/2022 (a 1.6% increase). Unfortunately, they declined to $22.1bn in 2022/2023 (a 30.8% decrease). ISSUE 187 JULY 2024 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 33