Egypt's balance of payments swung sharply into surplus driven by improvement in current account deficit and surge in portfolio investments in the first half of the financial year 2022/2023, the central bank said on Wednesday. The balance of payments surplus for the period from July 2022 until December 2022 recorded an overall surplus of $599.1 million. During the first half of the 2022/2023 year, Egypt's transactions with the external world witnessed an improvement in the current account deficit by 77.2 percent to $1.8 billion, compared to $7.8 billion in the same period of the previous financial year. "This was largely attributed to the decline in the trade deficit by US$6.2 billion or 28.4 percent to reach US$15.5 billion. In addition, the services surplus doubled, driven by the increase in both tourism revenues and Suez Canal receipts." the central bank further explained in a statement. "Moreover, the capital and financial account recorded a net inflow of US$2.8 billion as the net inflows of FDI in Egypt rose to US$5.7 billion. On the other hand, portfolio investments in Egypt realized a net outflow of US$3.0 billion. As a result, the BoP recorded an overall surplus of US$ 599.1 million in July/Dec. 2022."
