FX & Treasury in Egypt

Commentary

Egypt is a challenging environment – but one which seems to work overall. The country went through a bad period in 2015/2017, when foreign currency was auctioned, and in very scarce supply. The situation then improved, but has recently deteriorated again. This is hardly surprising, given the role tourism plays in the economy, and the combined impacts of COVID and the Ukraine war.

The situation reported by all participants is that there are no formal exchange controls, but banks are rationing hard currency according to a priority system, under which essential goods, such as food and pharmaceutical goods, get paid first, and items such as services, royalties and intercompany debt are satisfied last – if there is any currency left. The way in which this is implemented varies from bank to bank, so it is vitally important to maintain good relationships with your banks. The common themes were:

• Most participants sell hardware offshore in hard currency, and provide services onshore billed in Egyptian pounds. This has worked well, but the distributors are finding it increasingly difficult to get access to the hard currency.
• Some are requiring LCs, on the grounds these improve the chances of getting hard currency when payment is due. However, banks are reluctant to issue them, and they can be very expensive.
• Egypt is in advanced negotiations with the IMF over an aid package, which should ease the payment issues. This is expected to be accompanied by a devaluation: this is further complicating the FX