The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has revealed that remittances from Egyptian expatriates increased by 10.6%, or about $1.7bn, during the period between July 2020 and January 2021. The increase saw remittances increase to about $18.1bn, compared to about $16.3bn during the period from July 2019 to January 2020. The CBE clarified, in a statement on Sunday, that the preliminary data showed a slight decrease of $116.8m in remittance transfers during January 2021, to record about $2.54bn compared to about $2.65bn during January 2020. Recently, the CBE also revealed that remittances from Egyptian expatriates increased by $2.8bn, reflecting a growth rate of 10.5% during 2020, to record about $29.6bn compared to about $26.8bn in 2019. The CBE said that the data showed an increase in those transfers during the period from October to December 2020 by about $529.2m, to record about $7.5bn. This compared to about $7bn during the period from October to December 2019. The remittances of workers abroad are one of the most important sources of foreign exchange for the state. Egypt occupies an advanced position among the largest recipient countries of these remittances in the world. In an earlier statement, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that Egypt ranked sixth on the World Bank's classification of countries that receive remittances from abroad. The report said that remittances reached $24.4bn in 2020, with CAPMAS also pointing out that these transfers represent 6.7% of GDP. It added that remittances from Egyptians abroad witnessed a growth during the first half (H1) of fiscal year (FY) 2019/20, the period of the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. During this time, it reached $13.7bn compared to $12bn during the H1 of FY 2018/19, an increase of $1.7bn.
