The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has announced that preliminary data on remittances by Egyptian expatriates shows a $1.3bn increase during January and February 2020.

The rise in remittances from workers abroad shows an increase rate of 33.6%, bringing the total amount of remittances in the first two months of the year to about $5.2bn. The latest figures compare to the roughly $3.9bn in remittances reported during the same two months last year.

The CBE said in a statement on Thursday that remittances increased 27.8% to record about $2.6bn during January 2020, compared to about $2.1bn in January 2019. Remittances also jumped by 40.3% to record about $2.6bn in February 2020, compared to about $1.8bn in February 2019.

Remittances from Egyptian expatriates are one of the most prominent sources of foreign exchange for Egypt, in addition to other traditional resources. Egypt is one of the largest recipients of such remittances worldwide.