The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Thursday that remittances from Egyptian abroad increased 24.4% in September, compared to the same month last year. According to the CBE's statement, Egyptians abroad transferred about $1.166 billion home compared to $937.3 million in September 2016. The CBE added that in the period following the 3 November 2016 decision to float the Egyptian pound, the total remittances from Egyptians abroad registered $17.4 billion from November 2016 to September 2017 compared to $14.8 billion in the same period of the previous year. In November 2016, the central bank floated the currency as part of securing a $12 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund to support its reform program. Egypt's foreign reserves registered $36.535 billion at the end of September 2017. Around 9.4 million Egyptians live abroad, of a total Egyptian population of 104.2 million. Egyptians working abroad send back billions of dollars a year in remittances, an important source of hard currency.
