The price of the dollar rose against the Egyptian pound by at least five pounds, exceeding LE47 according to the “Masrawy” website and LE48 according to the “Al-Sarf Al-Youm” (The Exchange Today) website.
The price of the dollar rose was previously LE42 one week ago, while its official price in banks is still at LE31.
This jump comes despite the Central Bank of Egypt‘s announcement of an increase in net foreign reserves.
Masrawy reported that the reason for the increase was due to the high demand for purchasing it, brought on by the continued pressure of currency shortages in banks and money exchanges.
Dollar concerns
The “Cairo 24” website reported that Egyptian banking experts saying that, “The Central Bank’s recent move to limit the size of dollar payments via the Internet to about $250 as a maximum, in addition to stopping the withdrawal of dollars by direct debit card or ‘debit card’ from abroad except with specific conditions, has made it difficult to provide dollars to customers who want to obtain them urgently – prompting them to go to the black market.”
Al-Sarf Al-Youm indicated that the deterioration of the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate is causing stagnation and crises in the markets.
The government raised the price of gasoline by 14 percent last Friday, with plans to raise fuel, energy, and transportation prices early next year under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, stipulating the liberalization of the exchange rate and energy and fuel prices, Al-Sarf Al-Youm reported.
This decline in the Egyptian pound comes despite the Central Bank’s announcement last Sunday that Egypt’s net foreign reserves rose to $35.102 billion in October from $34.97 billion in September.
