Egypt posts BoP surplus of $4.9b

Cairo: Egypt recorded a balance of payments (BoP) surplus of $4.9 billion in the first nine months of its fiscal year to end-March, boosted by strong inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), central bank figures showed on Saturday.

The central bank reported a surplus of $3.1 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Egypt's financial year starts on July 1.

FDI jumped to $11.3 billion in the July-March period compared to $9 billion in the same period of the previous year, helping create a surplus of $3.6 billion in capital and financial account, the bank said.

Account balance

Current account balance recorded a surplus of $488.4 million as the surplus in net servives and net transfers abroad outpaced the increase in the trade balance deficit, it added.

The bank said imports jumped 43.1 per cent to $37.6 billion, while exports rose 31.1 per cent to $20.8 billion.