Lawyer Ali Ayyub filed a lawsuit on Sunday at the State Council to demand canceling of the decision by Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) governor to float the Egyptian pound.
He also urged ordering the government to explain the goals of its cash policy to the parliament. He demanded the government be made to clarify the changes that occurred regarding these goals during the current fiscal year, which lead to [[[major]]]] fluctuations in the exchange rate.
Ayyub also urged ordering the CBE to offer exceptional funding to banks in case of financial crisis or in any emergency that requires fulfilling the essential needs of the financial markets; this would be done according to rules set by the bank’s board and in compliance with the law.
The lawsuit was filed against the president, prime minister, finance minister and CBE governor.
“CBE failed to declare the measures taken to apply the new cash policy or the organizational monitoring decisions through official bulletins,” Ayyub said in the lawsuit.
“The decision on floating of the pound hugely harms the economic situation and the exchange markets. It has made the price of all products soar, which harms the Egyptian market as a whole,” he said, urging a date be set for reviewing the lawsuit and issuing a verdict.
In a surprise announcement early on Thursday, Egypt's central bank floated the Egyptian pound, devaluing it by 47.7 percent to an initial guidance level of LE13 pounds to the dollar, while at the same time hiking the interest rates [[[on the Egyptian pound]]] by 3 percent [[[to 20 percent]]], in order to re-balance the currency markets following weeks of turbulence.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
