Big currency problems have matured in Egypt: this is a Red Sea resort country and its residents, who have been observing the constant fall of the Egyptian pound since March, are experiencing a real dollar deficit. The official exchange rate of the dollar against the national Egyptian currency is now just numbers, because. in reality, it is impossible to buy dollars at this rate.
The multibillion-dollar investments withdrawn from Egypt since the beginning of the year made it difficult to service the debt, which caused the economic crisis in the country. Tourists who did not take dollars on holiday, and Russians living in the country, faced the problem of exchange. In banks, the issuance of US currency is strictly limited, and on the black market the exchange rate is prohibitive.
As the Russian woman noted in her Yandex.Zen blog, the collapse of the pound directly affected local residents, who partially make payments in dollars for large purchases. For example, when buying real estate. “Officers are doing their best to keep dollars, not to give them away, and even more so to prevent the outflow of currency from the country. People are pissed off as best they can,” she explained.
The official dollar exchange rate is currently 24.75 pounds. However, it is impossible to find them at such a rate. “Mushkala (Arabic for “problem”),” the blogger warned. – Foreigners on a ticket can exchange $ 200 at a bank before leaving the country. No more will be given. Previously, in Sharm el-Sheikh, they gave out in exchange offices, now only in a bank and a very small amount.
The shortage of currency has activated the black market, where the rate jumps much higher. So, in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, $ 1 is sold at a price of 29-30 pounds, previously it was 32-34 pounds. “In Cairo, the dollar is worse and there is the highest exchange rate. And a few days ago it was up to 37. Now the rate has dipped a little, since Egypt received another tranche from the IMF and the risk of default has receded, ”the compatriot specified.
The Russian woman told the story that the other day her friends in one from the banks of Sharm el-Sheikh they tried to withdraw several thousand dollars from a foreign currency account, but they did not receive the necessary amount. The limit for them was $3,000. “I had to take pounds at a very unfavorable rate, because the money was urgently needed,” she shared.
As for shops, dollars there continue to be accepted at 24.5-25 pounds. Everywhere the conversion is carried out at the official rate.
Although many tourists with dollars in their pockets rest in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, they are unable to provide the entire country with the American currency, on which the local economy is tied. Against this background, the Egyptian authorities issued a new decree for foreigners, obliging them to buy a train ticket only for foreign currency. “The logic is the same – so that they do not change the currency at the black market rate. Although, to be honest, I have not seen a large influx of foreigners on Egyptian trains – so I do not know how much this will help the Government. But they are clearly doing everything they can,” the author noted.
However, despite the criminal prosecution for the “black exchange” of currencies, locals and visitors continue to carry out exchanges and take risks, trying to do it carefully and “through of their own.”
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