The Central Bank of the UAE and the Central Bank of Egypt have renewed a bilateral currency swap agreement worth Dh5 billion (about $1.36 billion, or 69 billion Egyptian pounds) for a further five years, aimed at deepening financial cooperation and expanding the use of local currencies in bilateral settlements.
The deal was signed by CBUAE Governor Khaled Balama and Central Bank of Egypt Governor Hassan Abdalla. Balama described the renewal as a significant step in ongoing efforts by both countries to promote greater use of local currencies rather than third-party currencies in settling bilateral trade.
Bilateral trade between the UAE and Egypt reached $9.7 billion in 2025, a 62 per cent jump from the previous year. Egyptian exports to the UAE more than doubled to surpass $7 billion, while UAE imports into Egypt stood at $2.7 billion over the same period.
The renewal comes as Gulf economies increasingly seek to reduce reliance on the US dollar for regional trade settlement, part of a broader push toward local-currency arrangements across the Middle East and North Africa. Analysts say swap lines like this one help shield companies engaged in cross-border trade from currency volatility and can smooth liquidity during periods of market stress.
The UAE has signed similar swap arrangements with several other countries in the region in recent years, but its agreement with Egypt is among the oldest and most consistently renewed of these financial partnerships. The latest extension signals that both central banks view the mechanism as having proven its value, particularly as trade volumes between the two countries continue to climb and businesses on both sides look for more predictable ways to settle cross-border payments without added currency-conversion costs.