Egyptian foreign currency reserves lost U.S. $700 million (4.2 billion EGP) in August, settling at U.S. $25 billion (149 billion EGP), putting the reserves at a risky level, according to a principal at the Central Bank of Egypt. The bank released a report which said currency reserves fell around U.S. $863 million (5.1 billion EGP) last July due to the maturity of U.S. $1.1 billion (6.6 billion EGP) in sovereign debt and the payment of U.S. $671 million (4 billion EGP) in foreign debt to members of the Paris club. Foreign exchange reserves in the Egyptian Central Bank declined from $33.3 billion (198.5 billion EGP) last February to $25.7 billion (153 billion EGP) by the end of last July, covering six months of Egyptian imports, according to the report. A principal at the Central Bank said that he considered reserve levels risky, deeming six months too short of a period of time. Since the unrest in February, foreign exchange reserves have lost $10.4 billion (62 billion EGP) in seven months, and then declined by almost $900 million dollars (5.4 billion EGP) in July. Last December, reserves amounted to $36 billion (214 .6 billion EGP). Reserves depleted rapidly in March and April, declining by $3.2 billion (19.1 billion EGP) and $2 billion (11.9 billion EGP), respectively.
