Egypt's Finance Minister, Mohamed Maait, on Tuesday said taming inflation is the country's biggest priority after Cairo received an $8 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Inflation in Egypt slowed to 33.3 per cent last month from 35.7 per cent in February, but this is still well above the central bank's long-term target of about 7 per cent.
Mr Maait also expressed hope that interest rates, which were raised by 600 basis points last month, will eventually come down.
Aggressively raising interest rates and floating the Egyptian pound were two key demands Egypt had to meet for the IMF to increase its $3 billion loan to $8 billion.
The Egyptian pound plunged after the central bank's decision to float its currency. It closed on Tuesday at 48.50 against the US dollar.
During an event at IMF headquarters in Washington, Mr Maait said the adjustments to Egypt's monetary and fiscal policies must “be lasting”.
He said “we need at least six months” to assure the private sector and civilians that “we are on the right track”.
“The flexible exchange rate will continue to assure them that the private sector will lead, assure them that we will contain our public investment and also inflation, because the citizens have suffered greatly from that high inflation,” Mr Maait said.
Egypt's economy has faced many challenges over the years, including austerity, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Mr Maait said revenue from the Suez Canal, where trade has been disrupted because of the Yemeni Houthis' attacks in the Red Sea, has dropped by 60 per cent.
Tourism, another major source revenue for Egypt, has also been harmed, he said.
“So this is a whole situation in the Middle East is challenging, and is affecting Egypt negatively on some of the economic sector,” Mr Maait said.
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The five pillars of Islam
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
