EFG Hermes, one of the largest investment banks in the Middle East and Africa, has ruled out any significant change in the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate against the US dollar in 2019, despite the expected strong performance of the US currency in the new year. Hermes said that stability in the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate reflects the strong basis of the Egyptian economy as a result of the state’s adoption of the reform program more than two years ago. “If the government sees a need to go to the international markets to offer dollar bonds, it has to go better today than tomorrow,” he said. “Because the longer it is late, the global debt service prices will be going up significantly in 2019.”The Egyptian government plans to issue international bonds in international markets during 2019, ranging from $4-7 billion. The Egyptian economy benefited greatly from the liberalization of the exchange rate, which is the most important item of the reform program implemented by Egypt, Shams said.

Source: Egypt Independent January 01, 2019 15:11 UTC