Economics
Egypt Devalues Pound Third Time in 2015 After Reserves Slide
- Depreciation comes amid government talks for World Bank Loans
- HSBC forecasts 12 percent pound decline by second quarter
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Egypt depreciated the pound for the third time this year after the nation’s foreign reserves tumbled and the currency fell to a record in black-market trading.
The pound weakened 1.3 percent to 7.9301 per dollar after the country’s central bank devalued it by the same margin at a regular dollar sale to local lenders, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. That takes the currency’s decline for the year to 9.8 percent, making it the worst performer in the Middle East behind Algeria’s Dinar. Twelve-month non-deliverable forwards for the pound slumped 3.4 percent, the most on a closing basis in almost two months, to 10.2758 per dollar as of 3:35 p.m. in Cairo. Stocks fell the most this month.