Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian pound exchange rate is expected to stay at low levels until 2018, Ahmed Badr, the CEO of Renaissance Capital, said.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Badr pointed out that the Egyptian consumer sector is an attractive one as it has proven its flexibility along with the tobacco production.
Mohamed El Bahy, tax committee chief at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), predicted that the US dollar will decline against the pound in 2018, as a long-term result of the flotation decision taken in November 2016.
BNP Paribas noted, in a recent report, that consensus suggests an increase in the pound during the next year, after a gradual decline on the medium-term to maintain its competitive advantage for Egyptian products abroad.
In November 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) liberalised the pound and raised the benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points.
Egypt is currently implementing an economic reform programme, according to an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
