Egypt's balance of payments slid deeper into the red in the first nine months of 2011–2012 with a deficit of US$11.2 billion compared to a shortfall of $5.5 billion a year earlier, as political turmoil hit investment and tourism, figures showed.
The country's economy has been hammered by unrest in the wake of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Tourism and investment, two of Egypt's sources of foreign currency, have been among the hardest hit.
The current-account deficit widened to $6.4 billion for the nine-month period from July-March 2011–12, from $4.7 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to Central Bank figures obtained by Reuters. The state news agency also published some of the main numbers but not a full breakdown.
Egypt's financial year begins on 1 July.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) tumbled to $218 million in the nine-month period of 2011–12 from $2.1 billion in the same time during 2010–2011. FDI had been a major component fueling Egypt's growth until the anti-Mubarak uprising.
Tourism receipts dropped to $7.1 billion from $8.7 billion a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Egypt's core annual inflation slowed to 7.2 percent in the year to May from 8.4 percent in the year to April, the Central Bank said on its website on Sunday.
Core inflation strips out subsidized goods and volatile items including fruits and vegetables.
Urban consumer price inflation, the most closely watched indicator of prices, also slowed, easing to 8.3 percent in the 12 months to May from 8.8 percent in April.
This article is an edited compilation of Reuters stories
