Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said, on Wednesday, that the exchange rate of the local currency cannot be liberalized if the result of such a step endangers national security and the lives of citizens in the country.
Al-Sisi spoke during a youth conference in Alexandria, noting that when it comes to approaching the exchange rate, “be aware that it has entered into a crisis beyond imagination,” adding that many of the services that citizens obtain are priced according to the value of the pound against the US dollar.
He pointed out that if the exchange rate is liberalized, the citizen will not bear that, explaining, “If the citizen pays 500 pounds per month for electricity, he will be required to pay 1,000 pounds.. Can he afford that?”
Al-Sisi continued his speech by saying, “We are flexible with regard to the exchange rate, but when the issue is exposed to Egypt’s national security and that the Egyptian people are lost… no, no, no,” perhaps referring to the demands that accompanied Egypt’s obtaining a loan from the International Monetary Fund worth $3 billion at the end of the year. In the past, including the privatization of many public companies and maintaining a flexible exchange rate for the Egyptian pound to reflect its real value.
The Egyptian president continued his speech by saying that when the effect of the exchange rate on the lives of Egyptians leads them to loss, “we will not stay in our place.”
The dollar is approximately 31 pounds at the official rate, but the price on the black market reaches about 39 pounds.
Data from the Central Bank of Egypt revealed, at the beginning of this month, that the annual core inflation rate in Egypt rose to 40.3 percent in May, from 38.6 percent in April.
The data also showed that it rose 2.9 percent on a monthly basis in May from 1.7 percent in April.
The Egyptian pound.. Is there a new flotation coming?
For months, international institutions have been expecting the Central Bank of Egypt to float a new pound, without this actually happening, despite the continued rise in the price of the dollar in the parallel market.
Inflation has recorded sharp increases over the past year after a series of devaluations of the pound that began in March 2022, as well as a prolonged foreign currency shortage and persistent delays in releasing imports.
The value of the Egyptian currency has halved since March 2022, after the repercussions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine showed weaknesses in the country’s economy.
2023-06-14 17:07:51
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