A banking source has predicted Egypt’s foreign reserve to drop to US$17.8 billion, down from $18.5 billion in last October.
The same source, who asked not to be named, attributed his prediction to Qatar’s recent decision not to extend the maturity period for a $500 million deposit it had placed at the Central Bank of Egypt as part of a larger financial aid announced under deposed president Mohamed Morsy.
CBE Governor Hesham Ramez had recently declared that Egypt’s reserve would fall slightly due to the government’s huge financial obligations.
The $18.8 billion rate last October was a fall from $18.7 in September 2012.
This is the second consecutive monthly decline as the reserve stood at $18.92 billion by the end of last August.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
