Egypt floats its pound against foreign currencies

In a surprise announcement, the Central Bank of Egypt announced Thursday that it has floated the Egyptian pound against all foreign currencies with immediate effect. Against the US dollar, the Egyptian pound was floated to EGP 13.00 per USD 1.00. Selling a US dollar yields EGP 13.50. Prior to the devaluation, the US dollar’s official selling price was EGP 8.88, while the buying price stood at EGP 8.85. On the parallel market, however, the greenback reached an all-time high of EGP 18 earlier this week, before the pound strengthened. The IMF approved a $12 bn credit program to boost the sagging Egyptian economy conditional on the devaluation of the pound. Egypt’s budget deficit has soared to 300 billion pounds.