Egypt’s foreign currency reserves inched up USD27 million in March to reach USD16.561 billion in February, the Central Bank of Egypt reported on its website. Reserves have remained largely stable around the USD16.5 billion mark for the sixth consecutive month now aided by accumulation of foreign liabilities, which has enabled the CBE to maintain stable reserves despite a number of payments to clear backlogs whether for importers or portfolio investors. March was a case in point where the CBE pumped in USD0.9 billion to clear lingering import requests while managing to maintain stable reserves. (CBE, Mohamed Abu Basha)