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Egypt Raises the Pound by 0.20, Brings it Back to 7.73 Against Dollar

November 13, 2015
Employees speak on phones at an exchange office in downtown Cairo June 5, 2014. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

By Aswat Masriya In an unexpected move, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revalued the Egyptian pound against the dollar, raising it by 20 piasters, after multiple devaluations which until yesterday had taken the currency’s decline to the year to 11 percent. The pound is now changing hands at its price in early October, 7.73 to the dollar. It was devalued twice in mid-October to hit 7.93 against the dollar. At the time, analysts told Aswat Masriya they expected the pound to be changing hands at 8.20, and even 8.25 against the dollar by yearend. Observers say the revaluing aims to “confuse” currency manipulators – those who trade on the black or parallel market – but it has sparked questions of how the CBE is funding such moves given Egypt’s limited hard currency reserves. The cash-strapped Egyptian government is suffering from a serious dollar shortage and has been devaluing the pound throughout the year, as observers say the government can no longer sustain the high cost of supporting the pound against the dollar. The Financial Times said in October that the pound is the “most overvalued currency with a current account deficit in…


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