(Ecofin Agency) - Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves reached $42.524 billion at the end of February 2018 compared to $38.209 billion the previous month.

According to the country’s central bank, this is the highest in the country's modern history and the foreign exchange reserves increased since the country signed in 2016, a 3-years extended fund facility (EFF) agreement worth $12 billion with IMF. Before the agreement, the country’s foreign reserves had declined to $19 billion.

 In addition to this agreement, Egyptian authorities adopted a set of measures to primarily revitalize the economy and cope with the acute currency crisis that hit the country, resulting in dollar shortage and a significant collapse in foreign exchange reserves.

 One of such measures is the depreciation of the country’s currency by 47.7% in November 2016. Moreover, authorities decided to let it float freely. Furthermore, during the period under review, Egypt raised $4 billion through a dollar-denominated Eurobond issuance to fill its financing deficit and boost dollar holdings. For the record, the country’s external debt stood at about $80 billion at the end of September 2017, according to the Central Bank.