The Central Bank announced a 28.5 percent increase in direct foreign investments from US$1.2 billion in the first quarter of the 2013-2014 fiscal year to $1.6 billion in the second quarter.
The bank said in its monthly report that investments of $2.855 billion entered the market in that period, set against the loss of $1.252 billion.
The report also said that investments from EU countries ranked first at $1.6 billion compared $1.3 billion in the same period last year and with $221.8 million more than the first quarter.
The United Kingdom topped the list of EU countries with investments of $1.2 billion, down $77 million or 6 percent from the first quarter.
Arab investments came in third with $189.5 million compared to $153.2 million in the first quarter and $122.8 million more than the first quarter of last year.
UAE investments topped the list of Arab countries with $104.9 million in the second quarter compared to $59.5 million in the first, followed by Kuwaiti investments of $77.5 million compared to $15 million in the first quarter and Saudi investments of $57.3 million compared to $51 million in the first quarter.
Banking expert Basant Fahmy attributed the rise to increased investments from UAE and Saudi Arabia after the 30 June revolution. “Add to it loans and grants of 80 million euros from the EU and $300 million from the World Bank,” she added, considering it an improvement in the investment climate and a return of security and stability to the streets.
“This will bring down the dollar exchange rate,” she said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
