These decisions included the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, resulting in its value dropping to over 50 per dollar by midday, in contrast to the maintained rate of approximately 30.9 over the past year.
During a meeting on Wednesday, the Cabinet approved the launch of the seventh phase of the immediate cash payment initiative, aimed at settling export burdens totaling EGP 8 billion.
This phase's objective is to resolve the outstanding export burdens of exporting companies. It involves addressing export files that were submitted to the Export Development Fund and were loaded until June 30, 2023. These obligations should be fulfilled by the end of September 2023, with a maximum amount of EGP 8 billion
Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, commended the significant decisions made by the Central Bank earlier that day.
These decisions included the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, resulting in its value dropping to over 50 per dollar by midday, in contrast to the maintained rate of approximately 30.9 over the past year.
Additionally, the Central Bank raised interest rates by 600 basis points (6%), reaching 27.25%.
Madbouly highlighted that these measures are part of ongoing efforts to adopt a flexible framework targeting inflation, allowing the exchange rate to be determined by market mechanisms.
The aim is to unify the exchange rate, a critical step in eliminating the accumulation of demand for foreign currency and closing the gap between the official market exchange rate and the parallel rate. This move is expected to help curb inflation.
The Prime Minister emphasized the continued coordination between the government and the Central Bank in closely monitoring the markets and assessing the impact of these decisions.
Furthermore, he affirmed the government's commitment to rationalizing government spending and overcoming economic challenges.
The focus remains on implementing structural reforms, particularly in the industrial, agricultural, and communication sectors, while increasing the private sector's contribution to the Egyptian economy.
