CAIRO: Remittances sent to Egypt by Egyptians abroad reached unprecedented amounts during the 2010/2011 fiscal year, according to a report issued by the Central Bank of Egypt. The report said a total of U.S. $12.6 billion was sent back to Egypt in 2010/2011, compared with $9.8 billion the previous fiscal year. Egyptian remittances were greatly impacted by the events of the Arab Spring, which toppled Egypt's 30-year ruler as well as the heads of Tunisia and Libya. Last year the number of Egyptians working in neighboring Libya reached 2 million. This number has severely decreased, however, as Egyptians have lost their jobs during Libya's violent uprising. Egyptian workers in Syria and Yemen have also been affected. According to estimations, there are more than 7 million Egyptians working abroad. The report also said local liquidity is still above one trillion EGP (U.S. $169 billion) for the second month in a row. Its volume reached 1.02 trillion EGP (U.S. $172 billion) at the end of July, the report said. Quasi-money, highly liquid assets, increased 0.5 percent to 4 million EGP (U.S. $678,000) due to the increase of non-current deposits of local currency, while the money supply increased 2.2 percent to 5.6 billion EGP (U.S. $965 million). Non-current deposits of local currency increased 0.3 percent to 1.6 billion EGP. Deposits of foreign currencies reached 2.4 billion EGP, an increase of 1.4 percent. Current deposits of local currency hit 2.4 billion EGP, an increase of 3 percent. Money supply increased due to the increasing the rate of money in circulation outside the banking body, and reached 3.2 billion EGP (U.S. $542 million).
