The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has announced that remittances from Egyptian expats, one of the country’s main sources of foreign currency, rose 8% YoY during the first ten months of 2018 to reach USD 21.4 bn, up from USD 19.8 bn in the corresponding period of 2017, Invest-Gate reports.

Meanwhile, the total money transfer of Egyptian expatriates increased by USD 298.9 mn or 17% to hit USD 2.1 bn in October, compared with USD 1.8 bn in September, the CBE said in a recent official statement.

The CBE announced earlier that remittances surged by 1.5% to USD 5.9 bn during Q1 of FY 2018/19, up from USD 5.8 bn in the year-ago period.

Egypt’s remittances have been leaping since the pound flotation in November 2016, with the currency’s value plummeting against the USD from EGP 8.8 to a current average of EGP 17.9.

In the first 13 months after the flotation of the country’s local currency, remittances hiked by 18.4% to USD 26.4 bn, up from USD 22.3 bn in the prior-year period, the CBE said in a previous statement.