The Muslim Brotherhood Plays on the Floating of the Dollar
The recent decision by the Central Bank of Egypt to float the pound against the dollar has sparked significant debate among Egyptians, amid expectations that the decision will lead to significant price hikes.
The Muslim Brotherhood has seized the event optimally, publishing through its online platforms (Ikhwan Online) many analyses and statements by economic and media figures discussing the damages that could affect citizens due to the flotation decision. This decision came moments after the Egyptian Central Bank’s decision to raise interest rates by a significant percentage, reaching nearly 6%.
The group linked the flotation decision to the difficulties and challenges that the Egyptian citizen will face, especially with the approach of the blessed month of Ramadan, during which the cost of living doubles, without addressing the manner in which the Egyptian government is navigating the economic crisis plaguing the country.
The group stated in its analyses that the Egyptian regime insists on squandering every penny that comes into unproductive projects, or establishing production projects entrusted to those who are not qualified, leading to failure, deepening losses, and prolonging the crisis, even the catastrophe.
The group emphasized that the regime continues to procrastinate, patch up, and evade, resorting to deception in the market regarding the regulation of the dollar exchange rate.
The Brotherhood recalled previous flotation decisions, confirming that the flotation and the increase in interest rates aim to attract hard currency from citizens, not for the welfare of the people but to protect the wealthy. They see it as a repetition of an old policy that was used in 2016 and did not succeed.
The Muslim Brotherhood links the resolution of the economic crisis in the country to the departure of the political and military regime, the trial of all its senior officers, confiscating their money and assets, and addressing all countries to which they have transferred their money in dollars for confiscation.
Many observers consider that the Brotherhood is exploiting the event, whether negative or positive, once again to incite against the Egyptian regime, which seeks to find logical solutions to the economic crisis, noting that it will have a significant positive impact on local markets, commodity prices, and the flow of foreign investments in the long run.
Following the decision to float the Egyptian pound against the dollar, there has been a division in the Egyptian street between supporters and opponents of the step, which has reflected on social media platforms, where several hashtags topped the trend list in Egypt, the most prominent of which were “#Egyptian_Pound,” “#Floating,” and “#Egyptian_Central_Bank.”
Yesterday morning, as part of its efforts to combat the black market, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt decided – during its extraordinary meeting – to raise deposit and lending yields for overnight and the primary operation rate by (600) basis points, to reach 27.25%, 28.25%, and 27.75%, respectively.
Immediately after the decision of the Central Bank of Egypt, the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound dropped to more than (49) pounds for one dollar in some Egyptian banks, while the exchange rate was less than (31) pounds at the beginning of the day’s transactions.
