Egypt's foreign currency reserves inched up by almost USD 140 mn in March to end the month at USD 40.34 bn, according to figures released by the Central Bank of Egypt yesterday. Foreign reserves had risen USD 100 mn in February and USD 38.2 mn in January, after jumping by nearly USD 800 mn last December to their highest level since last April. Foreign reserves are still below the USD 45.5 bn pre-covid peak seen last February, and have been gradually inching up in recent months after plummeting almost USD 10 bn during the peak of the covid-19-induced global pullback from emerging markets last year.

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The pace of Egypt’s sovereign debt issuances will remain essentially flat this quarter, according to Finance Ministry figures reported by Al Shorouk yesterday. The ministry plans to sell a little over EGP 642 bn of treasuries during 4Q FY 2020-2021, most of which will be short-term debt. This is down slightly from the EGP 647.5 bn offered in 3Q. The ministry has no plans to return to the international debt market before 30 June after seeing huge demand in a USD 3.75 bn eurobond issuance in February.