Egypt has effectively devalued its currency by nearly 13 per cent following recent pressure stemming from severely depleted foreign currency inflows. The Egyptian Central Bank offered $200m in an interbank auction today at 8.85 Egyptian pounds to the dollar up from 7.73 previously. Falling foreign currency inflows have been strangling businesses and threatening imports of basic necessities including medicines.

In February we reported a revelation by Egypt’s Central Bank Governor, Tarek Amer, that plans to float the country’s currency will not commence pound until foreign reserves hit $25 billion or $30 billion from the current $16.48 billion. Read more on this story here.