$15B provided for import needs in 4 months: CBE governor

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) along with local banks have provided around $15 billion for imports over the past four months, CBE’s Governor Hisham Ramez said Monday, vowing not to revoke a $10,000 daily ceiling for cash deposits in hard currency.

The bank’s latest procedures against the black market on dollars, including local currency’s 10 consecutive depreciations against the dollar officially, resulted with a unified dollar exchange rate at official and parallel channels.

Meanwhile, some investors complained of hard currency shortfall as the CBE focused on providing liquidity for a priority list goods.

“The CBE is an independent and neutral body and has no political orientation. The bank makes its decisions in accordance with macroeconomic interest,” Ramez said in an interview with Radio Misr station.

He added that Egypt’s foreign reserves slipped sharply during the past four years due to security unrest that forced the CBE to take several procedures with the aim of re-building Egypt’s economy.

Ramez stated the decision to impose a $10,000 daily ceiling for cash deposits in hard currency for both individuals and companies in February, followed a “deliberate study aimed to wipe out dollar black market.”