The foreign exchange reserve balances at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) continued to rise during March 2018, scoring $42.611bn compared to $42.0524bn at the end of February, marking an increase of $87m. That level of foreign exchange reserves is the highest ever in the history of the Central Bank of Egypt. The current level of reserves covers more than nine months of imports of basic goods, which far exceeds the global minimum of three months. According to figures obtained by Daily News Egypt, the value of foreign currency increased at the end of March by $64m to $39.018bn, compared to $38.954bn in February 2018. The value of gold in the CBE's reserves rose by the end of March by $20m to $2.825bn, versus $2.805bn at the end of February 2018. Moreover, the value of special drawing rights (SDRs) in the reserves reached $749m at the end of March, up from $746m at the end of February, marking an increase of $3m. Meanwhile, loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached $22m in March, unchanged from February. Egypt's foreign exchange reserves jumped by over $23.5bn since the floatation of the pound in November 2016 through the end of March 2018, rising from just $19bn at the end of October 2016.
