Goldman Sachs sees Egyptian pound recovering against USD in early 2025
The Egyptian pound, which reached a record low this week by falling past the 50-per-dollar mark, could recover in early 2025 as seasonal portfolio outflows begin to slow, according to Goldman Sachs.
On Thursday, the currency dropped to LE 50.8 against the USD on the offshore market, continuing a nearly uninterrupted six-week decline.
It’s a sign of greater flexibility for the pound, which saw long periods of stability after authorities in March enacted their fourth devaluation since early 2022, reported Bloomberg citing the investment giant.
Driving the decline in December was a “huge spike” in redemptions of shorter-term Treasury-bills that were issued earlier this year, with investors opting for year-end profit-taking, said Farouk Soussa, Goldman’s economist for the Middle East and North Africa.
This is leading to a “lower roll-over of positions,” particularly as the finance ministry has until recently resisted raising yields at auction in order to keep the cost of borrowing down, said Soussa.
