CAIRO, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The remittances of Egyptian expatriates reached 4.4 billion U.S. dollars in July and August, said the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) in a statement on Monday.
"The remittances reached 4.4 billion dollars in July and August, compared to 4.2 billion dollars in the same period last year," added the statement.
Remittances of Egyptian expatriates along with the revenues of the Suez Canal, the tourism sector and foreign investments are the major sources of hard currency in the country.
However, due to political turmoil and relevant security challenges over the past few years, Egypt has been suffering economic slowdown.
To contain the shortage of cash reserve, the government decided to fully float the exchange rate of the pound and adopted an economic reform program that cut fuel and energy subsidy and hiked taxes.
The economic reform procedures have secured the International Monetary Fund's 12-billion-dollar loan.
