The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has injected over USD14 billion dollars into local banks over the past three months to facilitate import activity and curb inflation on essential goods, a government statement said on Thursday. "The central bank and Egyptian banks have embarked on an urgent plan to facilitate foreign trade in order to provide for production and for essential consumer goods for Egyptian citizens," a Central Bank report cited in the statement said. "To this end the central bank has provided more than USD14 billion over three months and this has had an immediate impact on foreign trade and industrial activity," it continued. The dollar injections have helped push down prices on essential food items by 25% to 35%, the statement added. The Central Bank report said the dollar injections did not affect its foreign reserves level, which have remained steady around USD16 billion dollars in recent months, or roughly enough for three months of imports. "In the context of increasing confidence in the Egyptian economy, and the investment environment in Egypt, the central bank has been able to preserve the level of international reserves despite making the necessary monetary payments alluded to," the statement said, without further explanation. The certificate of deposit rate hike "led to inflows of more than EGP120 billion (USD15.3 billion) into these instruments," the statement said. (Reuters)