#Other countries : Tareq Amer, the governor of the Egyptian Central Bank, resigned on Wednesday, reported the state press in a country where inflation prances to 15% and the devaluation continues to reduce the purchasing power of households.
The name of his replacement was not immediately announced.
The Egyptian pound is currently at its second all-time low, trading at 19.1 pounds to the dollar on Wednesday, a figure that has only been exceeded once, during the brutal devaluation in winter 2016.
Egypt devalued its currency once more on March 21 and inflation is galloping. The most populous of the Arab countries, the world’s largest importer of wheat – mainly from Russia and Ukraine – is suffering from the consequences of the conflict that began in February.
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Inflation is now at 15% in Egypt, driven by rising food prices of up to 66%.
Of the 103 million Egyptians, 30 million are considered poor and as many others are in precariousness, according to the World Bank.
Moody’s now believes that Egypt is at risk of serious social unrest due to the economic crisis. She changed her rating from “stable” to “negative”.
She is particularly concerned regarding the melting of foreign currency reserves, which fell from 41 billion dollars in February to 33.1 billion at the end of July, according to the Central Bank. And this despite the deposit at the end of March by Saudi Arabia, a great ally of the Sisi regime, of five billion dollars.
Cairo is in discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new loan, while the country’s budget of around 160 billion dollars is burdened by a public debt which reaches 90% of GDP.
