The Central Bank of Egypt has eased restrictions on foreign currency transfers abroad, allowing individuals to make a one-time transfer of up to $100,000 this calendar year according to Saudi Gazette.
In a letter circulated to Egyptian banks on Monday and posted on its website on Tuesday, central bank Governor Hisham Ramez asked the country’s banks to implement the new decision from the beginning of January 2014.
Previous restrictions effective since February 2011 allowed individuals to make one transfer of $100,000, for the entire three-year period since the uprising.
Under the new regulations, the one-time transfer can be made during 2014.
Since the January 25 revolution in 2011, the central bank has set the limit on foreign currency transfers to stem the flow of foreign cash out of the country. Egypt’s foreign currency reserves plunged steadily from $36 billion at the end of 2010 to $13.424 in March 2013.
