Egypt's Foreign Currency Reserves Reach Historic High in December

Egypt's foreign currency reserves experienced a historic surge in December, climbing by $1.236 billion to reach an all-time high, as reported by the central bank.

The increase was primarily driven by a rise in gold reserves, which grew by $914 million, totaling approximately $18.17 billion. This was the most significant factor contributing to the overall increase. Additionally, foreign currency liquid assets saw their first increase in five months, rising by $327 million to around $33.23 billion.

Conversely, the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) saw a slight decrease of $5 million, totaling $56 million in December.

It is noteworthy that Egypt announced the receipt of an initial payment of $3.5 billion from "Diyar Qatari" for the development of the Samla and Alam Al-Roum areas before the end of the month, although this amount was not fully reflected in the liquid asset balance of the reserves.