Egypt's balance of trade moves into surplus

Egypt’s balance of trade moves into surplus

The surplus for 2009/10 was $3.36 billion.

September 6, 2010 1:09 by Reuters

Egypt’s balance of payments swung into surplus in the year to end-June from a deficit a year earlier, the central bank said on Monday.

The surplus for 2009/10 was $3.36 billion versus a deficit of $3.38 billion in 2008/09.

The country’s current account deficit narrowed to $4.32 billion in the year to end-June from $4.42 billion a year earlier. The trade balance narrowed to $25.12 billion from $25.17 billion.

Net foreign direct investment during the year fell to $6.76 billion from $8.11 billion. This included $3.6 billion in investments in the petroleum sector, down from $5.4 billion in the previous year.

Net portfolio investment jumped to $7.88 billion from a net outflow of $9.21 billion in 2008/09. This included $5 billion in foreign investments in Egyptian Treasury bills.

Private transfers from abroad, mainly remittances from Egyptian working overseas, rose to $9.51 billion $7.63 billion, the bank said.

(Writing by Patrick Werr; editing by Patrick Graham)