El Sisi on the EGP: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s comments during the National Youth Conference in Alexandria on the impact of devaluation on Egyptian citizens, the USD shortage, and ways to sustainably address our trade imbalance dominated the airwaves.

El Sisi on the USD-EGP rate: “We are flexible on the exchange rate, but not when it comes to Egypt’s national security and the harm to the Egyptian people. When the effect of the exchange rate is taking a toll on the lives of Egyptians, we don’t sit in place,” El Sisi said yesterday in response to a participant at the National Youth Conference (watch, runtime: 10:37). “We can’t, even if this contradicts with…,” he said, without finishing his sentence. El Sisi added that the state is protecting citizens from the brunt of the impact of changing FX rates on the price of fuel and basic commodities.

REMEMBER- The central bank committed to maintaining a “durably flexible” exchange rate under the USD 3 bn loan program agreed with the IMF in October. The EGP has since lost more than half its value against the USD but has remained stable at 30.96 since mid-March.

Addressing the country’s USD gap is a top priority, El Sisi said, adding that the country needs to work together to up exports and lower imports and pointing to the government’s manufacturing localization drive as one way to help. Turning to international debt markets to support reserves and help meet USD needs is no longer an option, El Sisi said.

El Sisi’s statements got wide coverage from Ahmed Moussa on Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 1:36 | 24:43), Al Qahera News (watch, runtime: 1:13), eXtra News (watch, runtime 1:55:09) and Misr Gedida on ITC (watch, runtime: 7:18).

There was more from El Sisi yesterday:

  • Tax breaks for startups? The president directed that startups be exempted from taxes for a five-year period on the sidelines of the Youth Conference,Hapi Journal reported, without providing further details.
  • The president pledged to ratify the outcomes of the National Dialoguewithout restriction, National Dialogue General Coordinator Diaa Rashwan said during on interview with Sherif Amer on Hadith fi Misr (watch, runtime: 5:14 | 3:39).
  • El Sisi’s tour of a Beheira village to follow up on Decent Life Initiative projects received extensive coverage on Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 1:11:22).
Tags: