The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Tuesday announced that international reserves decreased to US$27.2 billion by end of May, from US$28.02 billion at the end of April.
According to the CBE online database, international reserves of foreign currencies dropped by US$9 billion since end of December 2010, when it was US$36.1 billion.
Egypt’s reserves of hard currencies have also dropped since the state of instability began with the security failure during the 25 January revolution, which affected trade and industry.
The reserve recorded US$35 billion in January, US$33.3 billion in February and US$30.1 billion in March.
Observers note that Egypt was forced to resort to its cash reserves following an economic crisis that hit Egypt after the 25 January revolution, which lasted for 18 days and led to ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February.
Meanwhile, profits from tourism greatly declined over the past few months. Foreign investments diminished as investors feared Egyptian authorities' anti-corruption campaign in pursuit of businessmen with links to Mubarak’s regime.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
