Egypt’s Net International Reserves Rise to $57.5 Billion, Up 14.8% in a Year

By The Edge Research Team

Egypt’s net international reserves reached $57.5 billion at the end of October in a provisional reading from the Central Bank of Egypt, 14.8% higher than a year earlier.

For Egyptian importers, bondholders and the bank’s rate setters, October extends an unbroken climb: each monthly figure published since the end of May 2024 has been higher than the one before, 29 in a row on The Edge’s count. In The Edge’s reading, the steadier pace since July matters more than the month’s gain alone, because the buffer has kept the large June and July additions rather than giving them back.

October adds $151.6 million to the buffer

The bank put net international reserves at $57,499.8 million at the end of October, against $57,348.2 million a month earlier. That is a rise of $151.6 million, or 0.26%. The release states the headline level and marks it provisional.

October’s gain was a little larger than September’s $133.7 million. Both months were quieter than August, when reserves added $920.6 million.

Over the past year the level has risen by $7.43 billion, an average of $619 million a month. The year to October 2025 brought $3.13 billion, or 6.67%. The latest year’s addition is therefore 2.4 times the previous one.

Net international reserves since December 2025 (in $ millions)

End-of-month levels as first published in the bank’s monthly releases; June to October 2026 are marked provisional. Each change is against the previous month’s published level; the December 2025 change is against November 2025 ($50,215.7 million).

The 2026 gain runs at twice last year’s pace

Reserves stood at $51.45 billion at the end of December 2025. Since then the level has risen by $6.05 billion, or 11.8%, against a rise of $2.96 billion over the same ten months of 2025.

The year has come in phases. January alone added $1.14 billion. February to May then added $540.4 million in total, an average of $135.1 million a month.

June and July, the two largest monthly gains of 2026, added $3.16 billion between them. That took the level from $53.13 billion at the end of May to $56.29 billion at the end of July. The two months supplied 72% of the rise since May.

Since July the pace has settled. August, September and October added $1.21 billion together, an average of $402 million a month, below the 12-month average of $619 million.

Measured from the end of February, reserves are up $4.75 billion, or 9.0%. Over the fiscal year to June 2026 they rose by $6.37 billion, or 13.1%. The starting level at the end of June 2025 was $48.70 billion.

Gains in net international reserves

Calculated from end-of-month levels as first published by the bank: $46,941.6 million at the end of October 2024, $47,109.1 million at the end of December 2024 and $46,125.5 million at the end of May 2024.

Over the full stretch since the end of May 2024, reserves have added $11.37 billion, or 24.7%. The last 12 months supplied 65% of that gain.

Rates and external flows frame the October figure

The Monetary Policy Committee raised rates by 100 basis points on 29 October, set out on our site that day. The overnight deposit and lending rates went to 20.0% and 21.0%, effective 1 November, the day after the end-October reading.

The committee said the decision came amid challenging external conditions and elevated uncertainty. It also pointed to a regional conflict “that proved more persistent than initially envisaged”, with spillovers to global energy and other commodity prices.

The bank’s external accounts for the fiscal year were set out earlier as well. For fiscal 2025/2026 the bank reported an overall balance of payments surplus of $2.8 billion. Net capital and financial inflows of $23.2 billion more than covered a current account deficit of $22.5 billion.

Remittances from Egyptians working abroad reached an estimated $33.9 billion in January to August 2026, up 27.2% on a year earlier, the bank said in October. August alone brought an estimated $4.2 billion.

What to watch:

The Monetary Policy Committee’s next meeting, the last on its 2026 calendar, is scheduled for 17 December 2026.

Figures are from the Central Bank of Egypt’s monthly net international reserves releases, from the end-May 2024 figure to the release of 5 November 2026, its Monetary Policy Committee press release of 29 October 2026 and meeting calendar, its balance of payments release of 12 October 2026 and its remittances release of 13 October 2026; changes, percentages, averages, shares and counts not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations from the levels as first published.

Sources: Central Bank of Egypt, The Edge.

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