Egypt's foreign reserves up by $3 bln in September: central bank

Egypt's cash foreign reserves rose in September by 3 billion U.S. dollars, the Central bank of Egypt (CBE) has said on its website.

"The reserves stood at 19.59 billion U.S. dollars by the end of September, up from 16.56 billion dollars one month before," according to CBE's report released late Monday.

Egypt's cash reserves declined sharply from 36 billion dollars in 2010 as the country witnessed two uprisings, the topple of two former leaders and a period of political turmoil that caused the decrease of tourists and foreign investors, key sources of foreign exchange.

Egyptian media reported on Tuesday the speculation about an imminent devaluation of the Egyptian pound as part of the economic reform required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange of 12 billion dollar loan over three years.

An initial deal between Egypt and the IMF on the loan was reached in August, a necessary step to help the country's ailing economy.

The official exchange rate for one U.S. dollar is 8.8 Egyptian pounds, but two traders told Xinhua that it has reached 13.8 pounds at the local black market.

Source : XINHUA