Egypt defends trade with other countries in local currencies

Newspaper Title: https://www.plenglish.com/

Newspaper Number:

Tuesday - 21 March 2023

Cairo, Mar 21 (Prensa Latina) The General Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Egypt defended the exchange of goods and services with other countries in national currencies instead of the dollar.

The Central Bank recently included the Russian ruble among its main currencies with the aim of stimulating trade with Russia.

Mohamed Attia Al-Fayoumi, treasurer of the institution, estimated that Cairo’s tendency to sign trade agreements with China and India in local currencies is a good step to alleviate pressure on the dollar. He stated that Egypt has a great opportunity to increase the value of the pound against the basket of major currencies.

The treasurer highlighted the importance of Egypt’s accession to the New Development Bank of the BRICS group, made up of China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Russia. “New economic alliances would reduce the need for dollars, which will benefit the Egyptian economy,” he said.

In January, the vice president of the Economic Committee of the House of Representatives, Mohamed Abdel-Hamid, stated that the decision to join the New Development Bank is good news. “We will benefit from the Bank’s financial and technical assistance in areas such as sustainable development, health, infrastructure, transportation, water, and telecommunications,” he stressed at the time.

Parliamentarian Ahmed El-Awadi, head of the House National Security and Defense Committee, also praised the decision, stating that it represents a step in the fight against the phenomenon of dollarization and opens new markets for the agricultural and industrial products of Egypt.

Lawmaker Mervat Mattar stated that “the BRICS group is an important forum that can divert the course of the international economy from the dominance of the US and the dollar.”