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The Egyptian pound was trading at the low level of 15.83 per dollar, compared with 15.72 in the beginning of trading on Monday, before rising again, according to Refinitiv data.
Concern over the Corona pandemic has caused large inflows of foreign investment from Egypt and stopped the tourism sector, a major source of dollars, and has also hurt the remittances of Egyptians working abroad in the Gulf states.
The International Monetary Fund agreed last week to give Egypt $ 2.77 billion through the rapid financing tool with the aim of helping to bridge a gap in its balance of payments.
Egypt is currently negotiating a larger support package with the IMF under the credit preparedness agreement. Economists expect that the fund will consider at least a moderate devaluation under the package.
Credit rating agency Fitch said last week that “the credit readiness agreement will likely renew focus on exchange rate flexibility, especially if foreign reserves remain under pressure.”
“The Egyptian pound, which rose 11 percent against the dollar in 2019, has witnessed minimal fluctuations since the beginning of 2020 despite the shock,” Fitch added.
According to central bank data, foreign investors sold more than half of their holdings from Egyptian treasury bills in March, bringing the total holdings to 149.30 billion pounds (9.44 billion dollars) at the end of March from 310.65 billion at the end of February.
Tourism was almost completely halted as the government halted flights in March.
The revenues of the sector amounted to $ 13 billion in 2019, or five percent of the gross domestic product, and transfers of Egyptians working abroad amounted to $ 26.78 billion in 2019.
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The Egyptian pound was trading at the low level of 15.83 per dollar, compared with 15.72 in the beginning of trading on Monday, before rising again, according to Refinitiv data.
Concern over the Corona pandemic has caused large inflows of foreign investment from Egypt and stopped the tourism sector, a major source of dollars, and has also hurt the remittances of Egyptians working abroad in the Gulf states.
The International Monetary Fund agreed last week to give Egypt $ 2.77 billion through the rapid financing tool with the aim of helping to bridge a gap in its balance of payments.
Egypt is currently negotiating a larger support package with the IMF under the credit preparedness agreement. Economists expect that the fund will consider at least a moderate devaluation under the package.
Credit rating agency Fitch said last week that “the credit readiness agreement will likely renew focus on exchange rate flexibility, especially if foreign reserves remain under pressure.”
“The Egyptian pound, which rose 11 percent against the dollar in 2019, has witnessed minimal fluctuations since the beginning of 2020 despite the shock,” Fitch added.
According to central bank data, foreign investors sold more than half of their holdings from Egyptian treasury bills in March, bringing the total holdings to 149.30 billion pounds (9.44 billion dollars) at the end of March from 310.65 billion at the end of February.
Tourism was almost completely halted as the government halted flights in March.
The revenues of the sector amounted to $ 13 billion in 2019, or five percent of the gross domestic product, and transfers of Egyptians working abroad amounted to $ 26.78 billion in 2019.
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