CAIRO,(KUNA) — The reported remittances by Egyptian workers in the Arab states reached USD 694.1 million during the first half of this fiscal year, a report for the Egyptian Central Bank said.

According to the bank, Saudi Arabia ranked first with USD 315.4 million in money transfers followed by Kuwait with USD 164.9.

The report added that the money transfers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached USD 163.7 million, those from Qatar USD 28.3 million, from Lebanon USD 8.9 million, from Oman USD 8.4 million, from Bahrain USD 3.1 million and, finally, USD 400,00 from workers in Libya.

It indicated that the money transfers of the Egyptian workers in the US and Europe reached about USD 1.9 billion out of which USD 743.6 million from the US, USD 85.5 million form Germany, USD 66.6 million from the UK followed by USD 28.2 million form Italy, USD six million from Canada, USD 5.7 million from the Netherlands and USD 5.2 million from Greece.

Egyptian Minister of Manpower and Immigration Ahmad Al-Amawy earlier said he expects the money transfers of the Egyptian workers overseas to cross the USD three million barrier by the end of this fiscal year and achieve a new record.

He pointed out that remittances by Egyptian workers increased during the second quarter of the 2004-2005 fiscal year by about USD 177.9 million reaching USD 980.7 million compared to USD 802.8 million during the first quarter of this year.