Egypt’s Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy said on Tuesday that the country’s internal and external debt totalled LE 3.7 trillion in 2017.
In an interview with TV program “Akher al-Nahar,” Garhy noted that the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate is linked to exports and improving the Egyptian economy’s performance.
Garhy stressed that fixing the Egyptian pound against foreign currencies may have a negative effectt on the volume of Egypt’s foreign reserves.
Egypt embarked on a large-scale IMF-sponsored economic reform program last year. A key demand by the international lender was that the country would devalue its currency, which it did in November last year, resulting in the pound losing half of its value, leading to soaring inflation.
Edited translation from al-Masry al-Youm
