Sisi: Egyptian pound will strengthen over coming months

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Thursday that the country’s currency, the pound, was not valued fairly against the dollar but the exchange rate would reach equilibrium after a few coming months.

Egypt abandoned its peg of 8.8 Egyptian pounds to the U.S. dollar on Nov. 3, floating the currency in a bold move that has since seen it roughly halve in value. The depreciation has helped push headline inflation to an eight-year high.

“This dollar issue will not last like this for long… because this is not its fair price. The Egyptian pound, its real price is not 17 or 18,” Sisi said in a televised speech marking an upcoming religious holiday.

“But for the equilibrium we are talking about to be reached we need some months.”

Source: Reuters