Back to the complete issue
Tuesday, 11 February 2020

EGP surges to new three-year highs against the greenback

CURRENCY WATCH- EGP surges to new three-year highs against the greenback: The EGP rallied yesterday to its highest value against the USD since it was floated three years ago as part of the country’s IMF-backed economic reform program, Reuters reports. The greenback was changing hands at EGP 15.67 yesterday.

The last time the EGP was this strong was 17 November 2016, when it traded at EGP 15.61 to the greenback two weeks after the government floated the currency ahead of signing the USD 12 bn loan agreement with the IMF.

Portfolio inflows are driving the rally: The appreciation in the EGP was driven mainly by inflows from Gulf investors purchasing EGP t-bills, the newswire says, citing an unnamed Cairo-based banker. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) auctioned T-bills worth EGP 20.5 bn on Thursday, and another batch worth EGP 14.5 bn on Sunday, according to official data. The CBE also sold USD 984.8 mn in one-year USD-denominated t-bills yesterday at an average yield of 3.491%, down from 3.540% in an auction in January.

Stable inflows from tourism and remittances are also fueling gains, the source noted. Tourism receipts rose to USD 4.19 bn in 1Q FY2019-2020 from USD 3.93 bn a year before, and remittances climbed to USD 6.71 bn, from USD 5.91 bn.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.