RIYADH: Egyptian merchandise exports reached $12.91 billion during the first four months of 2024, reflecting an annual 10 percent increase. The country’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Ahmed Samir, highlighted that this continuous rise in merchandise exports has persisted for the fourth consecutive month, according to an official announcement. The ministry aims to further increase exports from all production sectors to various global markets in the upcoming phase. This strategy involves a concerted effort by the authority, its affiliated bodies, the business community, and Egyptian exporters to enhance the quality and competitiveness of Egyptian products both locally and globally. This will contribute to the state’s target of achieving $100 billion in annual merchandise exports. Saudi Arabia emerged as the largest market for Egyptian merchandise exports during the first four months of 2024, with a value of $1.1 billion compared to $993.6 million during the same period in 2023. Turkiye followed with $1.08 billion compared to $900.5 million, Italy with $793.1 million to $785.5 million, and the UAE with $735 million to $460 million. The US stood at $716.2 million compared to $587.1 million. The main sectors forming the structure of Egyptian merchandise exports during this period included building materials worth $2.88 billion, food industries worth $2.10 billion and chemical products and fertilizers worth $1.98 billion, as well as agricultural products worth $1.77 billion, engineering and electronic goods worth $1.70 billion, and ready-made garments worth $855 million. Key export items that increased from January to April 2024 included fresh and dried citrus worth $767 million, gold worth $650 million, and nitrogen fertilizers worth $588.5 million. Earlier in May, the International Monetary Fund projected that Egypt’s foreign cash inflows would come from five sources, including commodity exports, tourism and Suez Canal revenues, as well as private transfers and net foreign direct investment. The fiscal year 2023-2024 total will be around $107.3 billion, compared to about $93.6 billion in 2022-2023. Despite expectations of an increase in foreign cash revenue from these sources in 2024, the IMF anticipates inflows to decrease again in the next fiscal year, dropping below the previous year’s level to approximately $91.2 billion.