On the horizon
The customs exchange rate will be lowered to EGP 16 per USD 1 effective from 1 September, Finance Minister Amr El Garhy told Reuters. The rate was lowered from EGP 16.25 per USD 1 and will be in place for one month. El Garhy noted that the customs exchange rate is set at about 90% of the currency’s market value “in line with the currency price’s downward movement over the last period.”
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will be heading to China and Vietnam next week, a state from State Information Services says. El Sisi will be attending meetings at the 2017 BRICS summit, which kicks off in Xiamen on Sunday, at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation. El Sisi will then head to Hanoi, becoming the first Egyptian head of state to ever visit Vietnam, where he will meet his Vietnamese counterpart. The visit follows a roadshow to Vietnam by Investment Minister Sahar Nasr and Suez Canal Economic Zone boss Mohab Mamish. Sputnik also has the story.