Egyptians remit more money home after devaluation

Egyptians remit more money home after devaluation

Image credit: Getty Images Egyptians working abroad have begun sending more money home since the country sharply devalued its currency last week, officials and bankers said on Wednesday. Egypt’s pound drops Egypt on March 6 cut the Egyptian pound to about 50 to the dollar from just under 31 pounds, where it had been fixed for the previous 12 months. Since then, the pound has gradually strengthened, trading at 48.40 on Wednesday. Four bankers told Reuters remittances had surged in the week since the devaluation.  Egyptians abroad had been holding onto their funds or sending them home outside the banking system via the black market, where the pound last month fell to as low as 70 to the dollar, bankers and economists said. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also said remittances had been increasing, without giving figures. IMF deal The devaluation was part of an $8bn financial support agreement that Egypt last week signed with the International Monetary Fund. Remittances in the third quarter of 2023, the most recent data released by the central bank, had dropped to $4.52bn from $6.44bn a year earlier. They were as high as $8.15bn in the third quarter of 2021, months before the war in Ukraine helped trigger Egypt‘s currency crisis. One senior banker said