Foreign exchange market stable, Egyptian expatriates remittances go up
Egypt, Economics, 2/7/2003

The local foreign exchange market witnesses a state of stability following the government's recent decision to liberalize the Egyptian pound rate against the foreign currencies.

Several dollar holders rushed to banks and bureaux de change to sell their savings in a bid to benefit from the new rate currently ranging from LE 5.40 to LE 5.49 against the US dollar.

Consequently, the banks began to open the delayed document credits for importers and businessmen.

Economists predict that the new system will lead to a rise on Egyptian expatriates' remittances and preventing speculation launched by some dealers in Arab countries.

Chairman of the National Bank of Egypt, Farouk al-Okda said that on the minus side, the costs of certain basic commodities and services would rise.

"But this is outweighed by the many positive results, of which the most important is finding a realistic price of the dollar in line with the law of supply and demand," Okda said.

The system will also wipe out black market, which has pulled the rug from under the banks too long.

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