Egypt's soaring FDI inflows are driven by non-oil sectors: CBE

Egypt's non-oil business sectors received the lion's share of net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows during the first quarter (1Q) of the current FY2022/2023 (July-September 2022), the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in a new report. FDI inflows increased by $1.5 billion, due to the increase in net greenfield investments and capital increases of existing companies. FDI outflows, which represent cost recovery for the exploration, development and operations previously incurred by foreign partners, increased by $24.2 million to about $1.7 billion. The investment portfolio in Egypt shifted from a net inflow of $3.6 billion to a net outflow of $2.2 billion, reflecting investor concerns over the war in Ukraine and the tightening monetary policies adopted by the US Federal Reserve. Egypt's net international reserves (NIRs) dropped to $33.2 billion in the 1Q, covering 5.2 months of merchandise imports at the end of September 2022. Kuwait extended the maturity of a deposit worth $2 billion to September 2023 instead of September 2022.