Following the liberalisation of the local exchange rate, three major exchange companies linked to the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and Banque du Caire have collectively garnered over EGP 11.231bn in foreign currencies from 6 March to 6 April.
Abdel Medied Mohy El-Din, Chairperson of Al Ahly Exchange, revealed that the company secured foreign currency proceeds totalling EGP 6.216bn in this period, with EGP 220m acquired on the preceding Saturday alone.
Adel Fawzi, Head of Misr Exchange, noted that the company’s foreign currency proceeds reached approximately EGP 4.5bn during the same timeframe. The US dollar constituted 62.6% of these proceeds, with the Saudi riyal following at 17.3%.
Mohamed Ragaei, Chairperson of Cairo Exchange, reported that the company’s total proceeds from foreign and Arab currencies since the exchange rate liberalization up to the end of the previous week’s trading were around EGP 515m.
In a pivotal meeting on 6 March, the Central Bank of Egypt resolved to let market mechanisms dictate the exchange rate. This move is pivotal in unifying the exchange rate, thereby addressing the foreign currency demand backlog caused by the disparity between official and parallel market rates.
Since this decision, banks and exchange companies in the Egyptian market have experienced a marked surge in dollar and other major foreign currency inflows.
