Some relief for Egypt’s battered foreign currency reserves, which have plunged 57 per cent since the start of the uprising to overthrow former president Hosni Mubarak last January.
Net reserves fell in February, down by $680m, but that’s a significant slowdown from the average $1.8bn monthly decline recorded in the five previous months. It raises hopes that the flight of hard currency from the troubled country may be slowing as the prospects rise of a deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Last year, Egypt’s benchmark equity index lost half its value. But even amid the country’s political turmoil, heavy intervention by the central bank helped keep the pound steady, with losses against the US dollar of under 4 per cent last year.
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