It has been reported that the Egyptian pound moved down against the dollar on Sunday. The fuel prices have been hiked. This move met the key demands set by the International Monetary Fund for a much-needed $12 billion loan to overhaul the ailing economy. But there has also been price increases on a number of goods, including food and transport. The Banks were selling the US currency at around 16 pounds while buying it at around 15.5.
The Central Bank on Thursday devalued the pound by 48 per cent. This set a holding exchange rate of 13 pounds to the dollar that was crushed within hours. Before the floatation, the dollar’s official exchange rate was nearly nine pounds. In the earlier part of last week, it traded at an all-time high of over 18 pounds on the parallel black market.
The floatation happened just hours later with a hike in the price of fuel by between 30 and 46.8% happened; a move that had an immediate effect on the prices of many products including food items and transport.
