The Clap
Foreign investments in Egypt’s treasury bills & bonds (instruments the gov’t can use to borrow) increased by the equivalent of $2.3 billion in January 2023.
What
We say “equivalent to” because these instruments are EGP-denominated, meaning that foreign investments must be turned into EGP in order to purchase these instruments.
So What
Foreign investments made their way back to Egypt following the EGP’s devaluation as they were optimistic Egypt would move to a flexible exchange rate regime.
Now What
Economic expert Hany Genena says January’s inflows didn’t continue due to more attractive interest rates elsewhere, adding that the funds were barely able to clear the majority of the import backlog, which is why a USD shortage is still lurking.
