The balance of payments registered deficit of $1billion in the nine month period ending March 2015 compared to a surplus of $2.2 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the Central Bank of Egypt.
This came as a result of an increase in trade deficit by more than a fifth as a direct result of the decline in exports of commodities from $19.6 to $16.9. “The contraction in exports is traceable to the drop in oil exports receipts, in the wake of the decline in world prices of crude oil by 28.7 per cent and 50.1 per cent in Q2 and Q3 2014/15, respectively, relative to the same quarters a year earlier.” noted a CBE statement.
Also , the import bill increased by 6.3 per cent, to register $ 46.4 billion .
Meanwhile, Services and income balance, ran a surplus of $ 4.2 compared to $ 418.2 million of the corresponding period a year earlier fed by a 61 per cent increase in tourism revenues. .
Another positive development reflected in the BOP figures in the of foreign direct investment from $ 3.1 billion to $ 5.7 billion.
