The remittances from Egyptian expatriates rose to 31.9 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2021-2022 ending June, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said Tuesday.
The figure registers a 1.6-percent increase from 31.4 billion dollars in the fiscal year 2020-2021, according to a CBE statement.
Official statistics show some 13 million Egyptians living and working abroad, mainly in the Gulf countries.
“Remittances from Egyptian expats, which were more than the total revenues of direct investments, Suez Canal and tourism in the fiscal year 2021-2022, have become a cornerstone of Egypt’s economy,” Egyptian economist Karim Al-Omda said.
He explained that the Egyptian workers abroad prefer to send back part of their salaries as investments in real estate.
Egypt is one of the largest recipients of foreign currency from expatriates, which helped ease the shortage of the U.S. dollars in 2020, according to Al-Omda.
