Egypt did not have luxury of postponing reforms

Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said on Friday the government did not have the luxury of postponing reforms, a day after the currency was devalued and fuel prices were raised.

Egypt floated the pound on Thursday amid a dollar crunch that threatened to grind imports to a halt, causing the pound to fall from 8.8 to the dollar to more than 14 pounds.

The government also announced an increase in fuel prices, with low grade petrol increasing by 50 percent to 2.35 pounds a litre while higher octane fuel rose by about one third to 3.5 pounds per litre.