Egyptian pound
What if Egypt won’t devalue its currency in the short term?
Since the beginning of March, the exchange rate has witnessed successive declines, heading towards LE 31.
At the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr, the dollar rate registered LE 29.90 for buying and LE 30.00 for selling.
The exchange rate of the Russian ruble against the Egyptian pound recorded about 43 piasters, according to the list of the Russian Central Bank.
It added that large private-sector banks are better-placed to withstand currency depreciation than the two largest public-sector banks, National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr (BM), due to their higher regulatory capital buffers.
While the Central Bank leaves prices setting according to the mechanisms of supply and demand, without any intervention to support the value of the local currency.
In the two largest banks in terms of assets and transactions, the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr, the exchange rate recorded LE 25.9 for purchase, and LE 25.95 for sale.
It stated in a recent report that Egypt has recently adopted a flexible exchange rate policy, describing it as the most appropriate one in the case of open economies that adopt an independent monetary policy.
“The move will result in some short-term economic pain but it will help to get an IMF deal over the line and go a long way to restoring macroeconomic stability,” it stated.
He noted during Egypt’s Economic Conference that the CBE enjoys complete independence, and at the same time there is coordination with the government and the private sector as well.
The US dollar rate increased by 5 piasters for buying and selling.
The economics company also anticipated a 16 percent decrease by the end of 2024 to record 25 per dollar.
"The exchange rate was corrected due to the Ukrainian war in March and as a result foreign exchange earnings increased,” the CBE’s governor stated.
Hariri noted that a large group of customers untied their dollar-saved bank deposits and bought Egyptian pounds to benefit from the proceeds of the one-year certificates offered by the two state-owned banks.
The dollar rate registered LE 18.45 for buying and LE 18.55 for selling at the Commercial International Bank (CIB).
Egypt's foreign cash reserves have been on the rise since June 2020.
The Media Center of the Cabinet said in a statement, that it had contacted the Central Bank of Egypt, which denied the news, stressing that it was untrue to cancel dealing with the pound banknote in the markets.
The exchange rate has witnessed a continuous decline since June 2020, to record LE 15.7 in November, to stabilize until February 2021.
A report published by the center said the exchange rate is one of the key indicators of economic strength of world countries.
The dollar price dropped from LE 15.99 for buying and LE 16.09 for selling on January 1 to LE 15.64 for buying and LE 15.74 for selling on October 31.
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