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The International Monetary Fund is calling on Egypt to urgently devalue its currency.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde says the currency crisis in the country can only be resolved by bridging the widening gap between the official and black market exchange rates. Lately, the Egyptian pound has weakened against the dollar trading at 14.2 in the black market compared to 8.88 official rates. Egypt has been struggling to shore up its foreign currency reserves at the face of an economic turmoil since 2011.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s administration is rolling out an austerity programme and is seeking billions in support from abroad in order to meet conditions for a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
