Banking sources expect the performance of the Egyptian pound to continue to improve during the year 2020, after having achieved in 2019 the best performance and its rise against the dollar by more than 11% in one year. The average price of the dollar in January 2019 scored about 17.16 pounds, but at the end of last week's trading, it recorded about 15.98 pounds, which enabled him to become the second most powerful currency against the US dollar in emerging markets.
The remarkable gains of the Egyptian pound during the year 2019 reflect increased confidence in the Egyptian economy and the policy applied by the central bank to liberalize the exchange rate, which contributed significantly to increasing foreign exchange flows and increasing the supply of foreign currencies with banks, as well as the flow of financial portfolios and foreign investments in Egyptian debt instruments Especially treasury bills and bonds, as well as the performance of the pound strengthened by the measures announced by the Egyptian government to reduce imports, increase Egyptian exports, and revive tourism.
The American "Bloomberg" agency says that the Egyptian currency is performing the best in two decades, and the pound reached its highest exchange rate for two and a half years. This was also reflected in the performance of investment certificates and deposits in the Egyptian pound, which benefited from the high interest rate on them, as Egypt offers one of the highest real interest rate rates in the world, which contributed to attracting more foreign investments.
The indicators of the Egyptian economy are also witnessing improvement in performance, as the net foreign reserves at the end of November 2019 amounted to $ 45.35 billion, as the highest historical level achieved, compared to $ 23.1 billion in November 2016. Figures released by the Egyptian government reveal that Egypt achieved record levels in Foreign exchange resources during the year 2018-2019, as the remittances of Egyptians working abroad reached about $ 25.2 billion, which is one of the highest levels in history. Net foreign direct investments amounted to about 5.9 billion dollars, an increase in the value of exports by 31.3%, to 28.5 billion dollars in 2018-2019, and an increase in tourism revenues by 186.4%, to 12.6 billion dollars in 2018-2019, which is what the Egyptian government says It is the fruits of the economic reform process that also resulted in a 16.3% increase in Suez Canal revenues, to reach $ 5.7 billion in 2018-2019, as Egyptian bonds denominated in the Egyptian pound became the best performing in the world in 2019, with the expectation of continuity in further improvement In performance during 2020.