Abdullah Abu Deif (Cairo)
The exchange rate of the Egyptian pound continued to rise once morest the dollar, and the average price of the dollar in banks decreased by regarding 28 piasters during the last 25 days, to reach the end of trading yesterday at 18.23 pounds for purchase, and 18.32 pounds for sale, according to central bank data.
The highest level that the dollar reached during the recent period was at 18.51 pounds for purchase and 18.60 pounds for sale on April 21, an increase of 18% from its level before the start of the last wave of the pound’s decline on March 20.
Walid Gaballah, the Egyptian economic expert, explained that the rise in the exchange rate of the pound is related to the decisions of the Central Bank since last March, which led to the stability of the local currency significantly following a significant increase in the price of the dollar, which reached regarding 18.50 pounds for the first time since the decision to float in 2016.
Jaballah added to “Al-Ittihad” that it is expected to raise the interest rate on the pound next Thursday at the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank, but this decision may not lead to a rise in the dollar, especially with the exit of most of the already hot money from Egypt starting in 2022.
Jaballah indicated that the decision aimed mainly at maintaining the prices of basic commodities in isolation from economic developments due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, which led to the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates twice in a row for the first time in a long time, which was followed by most of the world’s dollar-linked countries, including Egypt.
Egypt’s receipt of regarding $12 billion from the Gulf countries in recent months is a major reason for the stability of the Egyptian pound and then its gradual rise and restoration of its value once morest the US dollar, which was announced by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly recently in an international press conference.
The Central Bank also announced, in a statement, that the remittances of Egyptians working abroad during last March recorded regarding $3.3 billion, an increase of 12.8% (on an annual basis), compared to regarding $2.9 billion during March 2021, and remittances increased by 44.4% compared to the immediate previous month, February 2022, and recorded About $2.3 billion.
