11:39 AM Saturday, December 30, 2023
Written by Manal Al-Masry:
The price of the dollar on the black market (the unofficial market for currency speculation) witnessed an increase of about 8 pounds during the month of December, reaching a record high for the first time due to continued pressures of supply shortages and increased demand for buying foreign exchange, according to what observers of the exchange rate movement said to them. Masrawy” throughout the month.
According to what observers said, the price of the dollar in black market transactions exceeded 53 and 54 pounds during the month of December from 46 and 47 pounds at the end of last November, after narrowing the limits of credit cards for international transactions (payment in dollars from foreign sites or outside Egypt) and an increase in requests from merchants. Gold to buy currency.
During the last 22 months, banks have been facing severe pressure from the shortage of foreign exchange after the exit of indirect investments worth $22 billion in the middle of last year, due to the negative consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which led to the penetration of the black market into currency trade and its attraction of some official sources of foreign exchange.
The Central Bank returned to liberalizing the exchange rate again in March 2022 after deviating from it during the Corona years 2020 and 2021 with the aim of eliminating dollarization, as part of the economic reform program supported by the International Monetary Fund worth $3 billion, which led to an official rise of the dollar against the pound in banks by 96% over the past year. 3 waves.
Despite the decline in the value of the pound against the dollar, Egypt is still facing a scarcity of foreign exchange due to the decline in some foreign exchange resources, including remittances from Egyptians working abroad, exports, and the reluctance of indirect foreign investments to return to emerging markets, including Egypt, due to the high global interest rate on the dollar and the ongoing tensions in the region. .
The gap in the price of the dollar between the official and unofficial market increased to 23 pounds, as it was trading in the banking sector near 31 pounds until the end of trading last Thursday, which is a fixed price since last March.
Various factors led to the rise of the dollar on the black market during the recent period, including the desire of gold traders to buy the dollar at high prices, which explains the rise in gold in Egypt during the middle of last week on Monday and Tuesday by about 300 pounds per gram, before losing a large part of its gains after that amid… Fluctuations, but a 21 gram gram remained above 3 thousand pounds.
During the past week, banks operating in the Egyptian market tightened restrictions on the use of “Credit Card” cards in international transactions, as they postponed the activation of newly issued cards for dealing in foreign currency, whether outside or inside Egypt, for a period of 3 or 6 months, due to the dollar shortage crisis, according to what he said. Some bank officials told Masrawy at that time, which reflects the severity of the foreign exchange shortage crisis.
2023-12-30 09:39:00
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