Egypt tried to draw a line under a deep economic crisis Thursday by allowing its currency to float freely.
The move saw the Egyptian pound crash 48% against the U.S. dollar... "[this will] improve Egypt's external competitiveness, support exports and tourism and attract foreign investment," IMF Mission Chief for Egypt, Chris Jarvis, said in a statement.
According to central bank data, one U.S. dollar now buys 13 Egyptian pounds, compared to 8.8 on Wednesday.
of course this makes imported goods including food (Egypt is not even close to being self sufficient) more expensive... let's see how the people in the street take this when the retail market settles
|