Egypt’s Finance Ministry dismisses reports of exchange rate 17.5 pounds to 1 USD

Sources at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance denied that the government has fixed the exchange rate for EGP to USD in the country’s fiscal year 2018/2019 budget.

Reuters previously quoted three senior officials as saying the Egyptian government set the exchange rate at EGP 17.5 to the US dollar in the budget of fiscal year 2018-2019, which begins on the first of July.

Unnamed official sources told Al-Ahram Arabic website that the draft budget for the new fiscal year is still being prepared.

The sources described raisingthe rate in the upcoming budget to EGP 17.5 from EGP 16 per 1 USD in the current budget as “unreasonable.”

According to the sources, the ministry is aiming to reduce the budget deficit to below 9 percent of GDP in order to reach 8.5-8.8 percent of GDP in the upcoming fiscal year.

The ministry is targeting a primary surplus of 1.8-2 percent of GDP.

The figures of the new fiscal year budget will be announced before the end of March, the sources said.

Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy reportedly met with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail Monday to present an initial outline of next fiscal year’s budget, according to local media outlets. Source: Ahram online