(AFP Photo)
The US dollar has continued to rise against the Egyptian pound, officially reaching EGP 7.59 selling and EGP 7.56 buying rates on Thursday, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
On Saturday, the value of the US dollar reached EGP 7.75 on the official market.
The dollar’s value is expected to continue rising, according to the expectations of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) head, Mohamed El-Sewedy, announced during a Wednesday press conference. He added that the rise of dollar’s value will reach EGP 8 before the Economic Summit in March.
After maintaining the same value at EGP 7.14 over the past six months, the CBE announced last December that it will raise the number of weekly dollar bids.
The devaluation of the Egyptian pound started on 18 January, when $1 was equivalent to EGP 7.19, but it fell on the following day to reach EGP 7.32. This devaluation is believed by economists to be a reassurance to foreign investors who would like to invest in Egypt using dollars. Others argued that prices of consumer goods such as medicine, oil and some food products will only get higher.
Since the end of the transition period with the election of former president Mohamed Morsi, the value of Egyptian pound has continued to depreciate against US dollar, from EGP 6.07 to EGP 7.59.
