Investment Minister Ashraf Salman announced that the ministerial economic group is seriously considering the devaluation of the Egyptian pound in the coming period as part of precautionary measures by the government to protect the Egyptian economy from the looming global economic crisis following the Chinese currency's decline, Al-Mal newspaper reported on Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, many users on social networking websites have called on people to keep the US dollar for the meantime, as the Egyptian pound's rate is expected to fall.
The size of the devaluation and the strategy needed to implement the decision will be up to the CBE, although the devaluation itself is not optional as the crisis requires decisive action to limit negative repercussions on the Egyptian economy, Salman said during the opening session of the Euromoney Conference Monday.
Salman said he believes the world is experiencing an economic recession, which will have long-term effects on the world economy.
He expects growth rates in China to be between 5 and 8 percent over the next year, along with the continuation of the crises in Greece, Canada and America.
The Egyptian pound's devaluation is not a choice as turmoil reigns in the global economy, and Egypt should take measures to face external challenges because the Egyptian economy is not far from the crisis, he added.
Egypt's foreign currency reserves fell to US$18.096 billion at the end of August from $18.534 billion the previous month, Reuters reported the Central Bank of Egypt as saying Monday.
