Egypt has transformed into a haven for debt investors from a crisis zone in less than two years, Bloomberg reported, in reference to the Egyptian pound, which the government allowed to float in 2016 to stave off an economic collapse.
The pound held its own even as Egyptian Treasury bills suffered outflows of at least $4 billion since March, it said.
Despite the outflows, “we are encouraged that there were no reports of dollar shortages,” said Brett Rowley, the Los Angeles-based managing director for emerging markets at TCW.
Egypt allowed the pound to trade freely in November 2016 as part of an International Monetary Fund deal for a $12 billion loan to support its recovery and end the hard-currency crunch.
Meanwhile, Egypt's central bank left its main interest rates unchanged on Thursday, saying a second quarter of strong GDP growth and an expected decline in inflation to single digits meant its monetary targets were on course.
The bank kept its overnight deposit rate at 16.75 percent and its lending rate at 17.75 percent.
