The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has announced that remittances from Egyptian expats, one of the country’s main sources of foreign currency, hiked by 5.7% – or USD 1.2 bn – in the first 11 months of 2018 to USD 23.3 bn, Invest-Gate reports.

The remittances stood at around USD 22.1 bn in the corresponding period last year, the CBE said in an official statement on January 28.

Last December, CBE announced that Egypt’s remittances rose 8% YoY during the first ten months of 2018 to reach USD 21.4 bn, up from USD 19.8 bn in the year-ago period.

Egypt’s remittances have been surging since the government floated its local currency in November 2016, with the EGP value plummeting against the USD from EGP 8.8 to a current average of EGP 17.66.

In the first 13 months after the pound’s floatation, 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.