An estimated six to eight billion dollars were smuggled from Egypt last year due to high exchange rates of the US dollar and a state of unstability that prevailed in the country’s exchange market, according to Mahmoud Abdul Aziz, head of the Arab Banks Union and Egypt’s International Commercial Bank.
The banker’s remarks came at an interview with the editors of Al Alam Al Yawm Arabic daily. He said that the decisions taken by the authorities last January are likely to invite the money back into Egypt.
A new system adopted by the central bank are likely to bring about stability in the market and eliminate “the dollar crisis,” he said.
The expert suggested that the Egyptian pound be freed from what he called “the dollar’s prison” to be linked to different currencies “depending on Egypt’s external transactions.”
Abdul Aziz added that the new currency exchange system would block the way of a black market return because the regulations “will revive confidence in the market” – Albawaba.com
