Egypt’s current account deficit improved by 12.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of the current FY2023/2024 (July-September 2023) reaching $2.8 billion, compared to $3.2 billion, data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) showed.
The CBE attributed this improvement to the decline in the trade deficit by 12.7% to a record $7.9 billion, and the spike in services surplus to $5.2 billion, driven by the rise in the Suez Canal transit receipts and tourism revenues.
Moreover, data showed that the capital and financial account recorded a net inflow of $1.8 billion, with foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Egypt registering a net inflow of $2.3 billion, while portfolio investments in Egypt continued to achieve a net outflow of $523.4 million.
As a result, trade exchange between the Egyptian economy and the rest of the world attained an overall surplus that declined to $228.8 million, down from $523.5 million during the corresponding period a fiscal year prior.
For the non-oil trade deficit, the CBE said that it improved by $2.4 billion, reaching $6.6 billion, compared with $9 billion, driven by the retreat in non-oil merchandise imports by $1.9 billion.
Accordingly, non-oil merchandise imports dropped by 12.5%, to $13.3 billion, down from$15.3 billion, mainly in corn, propylene polymers, and organic and inorganic compounds.
On the other hand, non-oil merchandise exports increased by $458.9 million, to $6.7 billion, up from $6.3 billion), due to higher exports of wires and cables; fresh, frozen, or cooked vegetables; gold; and electrical household appliances.
Meanwhile, the data showed that transport receipts rose by 13.5%, reaching $3.5 billion, up from $3 billion, mainly because of the increase in the Suez Canal transit receipts by 19.4% to $2.4 billion.
For the tourism sector, revenues rose by 9.3% to $4.5 billion, up from $4.1 billion, mainly due to the pickup in the number of tourist nights to 47.7 million, and tourist arrivals to Egypt by 23.2% to register 4.2 million.
