Egypt’s net foreign reserves continued its upward trend and surged to USD 44.459 bn at the end of September, compared to USD 44.419 bn a month earlier, Invest-Gate reports.

The country’s foreign reserves have been climbing since it secured a USD 12 bn three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program in November 2016, as part of the efforts to revive its ailing economy, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in a statement on October 8.

In July, Egypt’s net foreign reserves hit a total of USD 44.314 bn, compared to USD 44.258 bn and USD 44.14 bn at the end of June and May respectively, according to data reported by the CBE.

However, Egypt’s foreign debt jumped to USD 92.64 bn at the end of FY 2017/18 in July, up from USD 88.2 bn at the end of the third quarter of the same fiscal year in March.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly revealed in an interview with Al Watan, in early September, that the rise in foreign debt is mainly attributed to an increase in borrowing to finance the state’s budget deficit and provide hard currency to the market to contain the exchange rate swings and eliminate the black market.