The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced late on Monday that net international reserves reached $45.5 million by the end of February, up from $45.45 recorded in January, an increase of $53 million.

The CBE's international reserves have witnessed consecutive hikes since the implementation of the IMF's $12 billion extended loan arrangement.

In a statement, the CBE attributed this increase to the rise of gold reserves by the end of February, recording $3.588 billion, up from $3.424 billion in January, an increase of $164 million.

On the other hand, special drawing rights (SDRs) declined to $192 million by the end of February, down from $279 million in January.

By the end of the current quarter of fiscal year 2019/2020, foreign exchange reserves are expected to jump to some $458 million, according to Trading Economics’ (TE) global macro models and analyst expectations.

TE estimates foreign exchange reserves in Egypt will stand at $480 million in 12 months’ time, while in the long-term, it is projected to reach around $500 million in 2021 and $515 million in 2022.

According the CBE's latest report, Egypt's foreign exchange reserves covered 6.6 months of import in December 2019.