Sources in mobile companies said that the Central Bank of Egypt’s decision to raise the interest rates last Thursday will have negative repercussions on operating costs.
Last Thursday, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt decided to raise the interest rate by 2%.
Two sources in two mobile companies said that there is an increase in operating costs, and a source among them estimated that the rate of increase in costs exceeded 40% compared to last November, and it is expected that the decision to raise interest will cause an additional 5% increase in operating costs.
The source explained: “Anyone who sells us a service or a product will raise the price because it must earn more than the bank’s certificates.”
The mobile companies asked the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to raise the prices of mobile services, but the Authority did not decide on these requests.
The price of the dollar and a number of foreign currencies witnessed large jumps that amounted to about double against the pound during a period of one year that began with the first devaluation of the pound in banks on 21 March and until the end of yesterday’s trading, which is the year that witnessed a significant and gradual decrease in the price of the local currency after about two years of stability to exceed the level of EGP 30 for the first time in its history.
The exchange rate of the dollar against the pound increased gradually during a year, decreasing the pound by 96.3%, to record the average price of the dollar in banks at the end of the current March 20 transactions, EGP 30.84 for purchase, and EGP 30.94 for sale compared to EGP 15.66 for purchase, and EGP 15.76 for sale on 20 March, 2022. , according to central bank data.
