The deficit was $2.81 billion compared with the previous quarter’s surplus of $557 million
Egypt’s current account flipped into a deficit in the third quarter of 2023 after registering a rare surplus in the second quarter, according to planning ministry figures.
The deficit was $2.81 billion compared with the previous quarter’s surplus of $557 million.
Exports of goods and services fell by $1.05 billion in the third quarter to $17.29 billion, while imports of goods and services rose by $1.46 billion to $20.0 billion.
Current transfers, made up mainly of remittances from Egyptians working abroad, fell by $93 million to $4.52 billion. The central bank is expected to release more detailed figures in early February.
Egypt had a current account deficit of $3.49 billion in the first quarter of 2023 after reporting a $1.40 billion surplus in the final quarter of 2022, its first surplus in years.
The government’s external debt slid to $164.5 billion at the end of the third quarter from $164.7 billion three months earlier, the planning ministry said.
Source: Zawya