Skip to main content

Egypt's foreign reserves exceed $50B mark for first time: What to know

The stronger reserve position signals that Egypt has largely emerged from its worst economic crunch in decades.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images
This picture taken on Aug. 1, 2023, shows a view of the business and finance district under construction, in Egypt's "New Administrative Capital" megaproject east of the current capital Cairo. — KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

The Central Bank of Egypt announced Sunday that the country’s net international reserves exceeded the $50 billion mark for the first time in history, mainly driven by tourism and remittances.

What happened: In a statement, the CBE said its total net international reserves rose to approximately $50.071 billion in October, up from about $49.533 billion at the end of September 2025, an increase of around $538 million within a single month. The increase was driven mainly by increasing tourism and remittances, Egyptian media reported.

Meanwhile, the value of foreign currencies in the reserves declined to $33.350 billion in October from $33.649 billion in September, a decrease of $299 million.

Egypt’s balance of Special Drawing Rights — a reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund to supplement reserves of its member countries — rose to $179 million, up from $44 million in September, an increase of $135 million. Although SDRs provide a country liquidity, they are not currencies.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish