Tarek Amer, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), revealed the secret behind the rise of foreign exchange reserves in Egypt in January 2018 to more than $38bn.

Amer told Daily News Egypt that the rise in reserves was supported by a rise in the foreign exchange proceeds of banks and the CBE in January to $5.6bn, up by $1.5bn from December 2017.

On Sunday, the CBE announced that foreign exchange reserves in Egypt rose by $1.19bn in January 2018 to reach $38.209bn, up from $37.019bn in December 2017.

According to Amer, the increase was also supported by managing to reduce the value of the premium paid by the CBE to Paris Club countries, paid in January and July of each year. The premium was brought down to $350m from $700m.

Amer pointed out that the CBE paid $60m of this installment in December 2017 and paid $290m in January 2018, which contributed to easing pressure on the reserves.