Although Egypt's foreign cash reserves have exceeded historical levels, Mohamed Saeed, an employee of a private sector company in Giza Governorate (south of Cairo), does not know whether this development will reflect on his living standards, amid the continued rise in prices of some goods and services.

The Egyptian employee, aged 50, who supports three children, says that markets are witnessing a rise in prices of some goods, while prices of other goods fall, but overall, he has not seen an effect on his total monthly expenses, especially since a large part of the family budget goes to his children's education, in addition to the high cost of basic services such as fuel and electricity.

In a press conference held on Wednesday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly confirmed that Egypt's foreign cash reserves rose to more than $55 billion for the first time in the country's history, stressing that this development 'reflects the strength of the Egyptian economy indicators and the continued improvement of financial performance.'

According to data from the Central Bank of Egypt, the cash reserves increased to $55.07 billion, a growth rate of 3.64 percent compared to May which recorded $53.13 billion, the highest in the past two years.

Reda Abdel Salam, a member of the Economic Committee in the House of Representatives (Parliament), told Asharq Al-Awsat that the figures 'achieved by the central bank support the country's ability to cover its import needs for more than a year, giving it financial solvency to deal with various crises, in addition to enhancing its ability to contract to import goods at competitive prices, and encouraging importers to supply their products given the availability of payment capacity.'

He added that the rise in reserves 'always gives the government an opportunity to borrow at competitive terms and rates if it wishes, and also sends positive messages to investors wishing to pump new investments into the Egyptian economy, because they trust the state's ability to provide foreign currency and convert their funds if they decide to exit the market at any time.'

He stressed that 'were it not for the regional tensions resulting from the Iranian war, the economic impact of this improvement would have been much greater on citizens.'

During the first week of the Iranian war, foreign and Arab investors recorded net exit sales worth $2.2 billion from Egyptian treasury bills, according to data from the Egyptian Stock Exchange, which contributed to the decline in the value of the pound against the dollar.

Despite the improvement in cash reserves, inflation rates recorded 14.3 percent last month, with expectations from the central bank that inflation will peak during the third quarter of this year, before starting a downward path reaching single-digit levels in the second half of next year, thus lagging about a year behind the bank's previous forecasts.

The increase in cash reserves did not directly affect prices (Egyptian Ministry of Supply)

Samah El-Morsy, a professor of economics at Cairo University, attributed in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat the delay in citizens feeling the improvement in cash reserves to several factors, including regional conditions that imposed unexpected pressures on commodity prices, and the nature of the Egyptian economy which relies heavily on imports, even in some local industries that depend on importing part of their production inputs, noting that the percentage increase in reserves reflects positive indicators despite the challenges and difficult regional conditions.

El-Morsy added that 'strengthening cash reserves gives the central bank the ability to deal with economic fluctuations and achieve stability in the exchange rate, which has been evident in the improvement of the pound's value again in recent weeks.'

MP Reda Abdel Salam points to the 'need to continue working on parallel tracks to ensure the smooth flow of hard currency, whether regarding expatriate remittances, or supporting and encouraging the tourism sector which continues to recover despite regional disruptions, up to following up on the implementation of economic reforms being applied by the government.'

According to data from the Central Bank of Egypt, remittances from Egyptians abroad rose from $26.4 billion to $34.9 billion during the first nine months of the fiscal year ending in June 2026, the same period in which tourism sector revenues increased from $12.5 billion to $14.4 billion.