CAIRO / RankWire.AI / – Egypt’s net international reserves climbed to an estimated $55.0723 billion at the end of June 2026. This marks the first time the reserves surpassed $55 billion, setting a new record. The Central Bank of Egypt announced this figure on July 8. Reserves grew from $53.1342 billion at the end of May, representing a monthly increase of approximately $1.94 billion or roughly 3.6%, the largest gain during the first half of the year.
At the end of December 2025, the reserves stood at $51.4516 billion. They then increased to $52.5938 billion in January and further to $52.7455 billion in February. March saw a slight rise to $52.8306 billion, followed by April’s close at $53.0092 billion. May’s reserves reached $53.1342 billion before the notable jump in June. Official monthly figures indicate that Egypt’s foreign reserves increased every month during the first half of 2026.
Compared to December, June’s reserves grew by around $3.62 billion, or just over 7%. In January, the central bank stated that reserves covered approximately 6.3 months of merchandise imports. The June update did not specify the current import coverage ratio, nor did it disclose the sources behind the monthly reserve increases. The bank described the June figure as provisional and reported it in millions of US dollars.
Reserve Accumulation Gains Momentum in June
Data from the central bank revealed that remittances reached $39.2 billion from July 2025 through April 2026, representing a 33.2% rise from $29.4 billion in the same period of the previous year. In April alone, remittances hit approximately $4.3 billion, with monthly totals increasing by 44% from around $3 billion in April 2025. However, the reports did not directly link these remittance figures to the June surge in Egypt’s net international reserves.
Egypt’s current account deficit was $5.1 billion in the January-March 2026 quarter, up from $2.3 billion during the same period a year earlier. This widening deficit was partly offset by higher remittances, increased tourism revenue, and Suez Canal receipts. Meanwhile, net foreign direct investment inflows totaled $3.7 billion, slightly below the $3.8 billion registered the prior year. These external account figures do not specify which components contributed to the June reserve growth.
External Factors Support the Record Reserve Level
On June 29, the International Monetary Fund and Egyptian authorities reached a staff-level agreement on the country’s seventh program review. The agreement also covered the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. IMF staff noted that gross international reserves remained broadly stable at the end of March. The June net reserve figure was published after these review discussions and represents the latest verified monthly data from Egypt’s monetary authority.
June concluded the first half of the year with reserves surpassing all previous monthly levels reported by the Central Bank of Egypt. The $55.0723 billion total exceeded May’s figure by nearly $2 billion and was more than $3.6 billion above the December 2025 reserve level. The data shows a steady increase month by month prior to the larger jump in June. The central bank did not specify the reasons behind this rise, leaving the record reserve figure as the primary confirmed development in the announcement.