The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has uncovered that remittances sent home by Egyptian expats inched up by 19.6% YoY, or USD 1.3 bn (EGP 20.4 bn), during the first quarter of FY 2020/21, Invest-Gate reports.

Remittances grew to USD 8 bn (EGP 125.4 bn) in the July-September period of 2020, compared to a rise of USD 6.7 bn (EGP 105 bn) in the prior-year period, the CBE confirmed a press release on December 7.

In September alone, workers’ remittances increased by 16% YoY, or USD 2.7 bn (EGP 42.3 bn), up from USD 2.3 bn (EGP 36.1 bn) in the corresponding month last year.

Further, remittances from Egyptians abroad soared 11.6% in the first nine months of 2020, reaching USD 22.1 bn (EGP 346.5 bn) in this year’s January-September, compared with the year-ago period, the central bank added.

According to the World Bank’s (WB) Migration and Development October report, Egypt is set to become the top recipient of remittances across the MENA region in 2020, at a value of USD 24.4 bn (EGP 382.2 bn), making the Arab republic the region’s fifth top remittance recipient in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) share.