Crisis-hit Egypt’s currency halved in value since March

Crisis-hit Egypt’s currency halved in value since March

The Egyptian pound traded Wednesday at half its value from March after the central bank intervened for a third time as part of an International Monetary Fund loan agreement.

The devaluation, representing a drop of around 50 percent against the dollar over the 10-month period, comes as the price of imported food and other goods soars in the Arab world's most populous country.

The currency plunged to 31.95 pounds to the dollar in state banks on Wednesday, before settling at 29.7 in the afternoon, according to the central bank.

It had been trading Wednesday at around 35 pounds to the dollar on the parallel market.

Egypt's economy was hit hard after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February unsettled global investors and led them to pull billions out of the North African country.

The war sent wheat prices spiralling -- heavily affecting Egypt, one of the world's largest grain importers, and piling pressure on its foreign currency reserves.

With costs driven up further by higher global energy prices, official inflation hit 21.9 percent in December, and food prices rose 37.9 percent year-on-year, piling further hardship onto households.

In a low-income neighbourhood of central Cairo, Shaimaa al-Abed said the economic crunch has left her feeling "hopeless".

"Even the cheapest food