The foreign exchange reserve at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) recorded a new record high at the end of October 2017, reaching $36.7031bn, up from $36.5346bn at the end of September, marking an increase of $392m. According to figures obtained by Daily News Egypt, the volume of foreign currency has increased at the end of October by $244m to reach $33.270bn, up from $32.026bn in September. Meanwhile, the value of gold included in the reserves declined by $70m to reach $2.630bn, down from $2.710bn. The value of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) listed in the reserves amounted to $766m, compared to $772m in September, while loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) registered $29m. Foreign exchange reserves increased more than $21.5bn in the past 15 months, having dropped to only $15.5bn in July 2016. By the end of this year, the CBE will pay about $5.5bn in foreign bond and debt installment repayments. It, however, expects $1.5bn to enter the reserves from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, along with a new batch of the IMF loan, next to the conventional foreign exchange resources. On Wednesday, the CBE paid $200m as the last tranche of a loan obtained from Turkey in 2012. Egypt also paid $250m of a $1.5bn loan to Libya, according to CBE Deputy Governor Ramy Aboul Naga.
