Egypt’s current account deficit more than doubled to $4 billion in the first quarter of its financial year as tourism revenues plunged, the central bank said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The deficit was $1.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, the central bank said in a statement. The 2015/16 fiscal year started in July. The overall balance of payments deficit reached $3.7 billion in July-September, compared with a surplus of $410 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The widening current account deficit was driven partly by a decline in the services surplus, which narrowed by 22.6% to $1.7 billion. Another factor was a decline in net unrequited transfers to $4.3 billion from $6.2 billion in the same period a year before due to a plunge in net official transfers. Net official transfers fell to $21.9 million in the first quarter from $1.5 billion in the same period a year earlier. The trade deficit registered $10 billion, unchanged from the same period a year earlier, the central bank said.
