Egypt Daily News – Mohamed El-Etreby, CEO of the National Bank of Egypt and Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Banks, praised the messages delivered by Central Bank Governor Hassan Abdalla during his meeting with Saudi investors, emphasizing that they were clear and reassuring to many of them.
In a phone interview on the show “Kalema Akheera” hosted by TV presenter Lamis El Hadidi on ON TV, El-Etreby said: “The messages from the Central Bank Governor were extremely important, especially since the Saudi investors currently in Egypt already have investments exceeding $35 billion.”
He added that the most important message from the governor was that the exchange rate of the dollar in Egypt will be governed solely by market forces of supply and demand, and that the sharp fluctuations seen in the past will not be repeated, thanks to the adoption of a flexible exchange rate policy.
El-Etreby pointed out that global economic policies, such as the protectionist measures imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, triggered concern among global investors. This led to the exit of a large portion of foreign “hot money” investments from Egypt’s debt instruments, including treasury bills, contributing to the rise in exchange rates in recent days—though they later declined again, even if not to their original levels.
He continued: “But in recent days, we’ve seen a strong return of foreign investors, along with a significant increase in remittances from Egyptians working abroad, which has helped improve the foreign exchange market indicators from Thursday to Monday.”
El-Etreby also revealed that Egypt’s foreign currency reserves have surpassed $47 billion, compared to about $30 billion in 2022—an encouraging sign of the strength of Egypt’s economy.
He added: “At the National Bank, which along with Banque Misr is one of the largest banks receiving remittances from Egyptians abroad, we’ve seen a significant jump in remittance volumes after the recent exchange rate liberalization—multiples of what we saw before the devaluation.”
Regarding the outflow of hot money, El-Etreby explained: “At the National Bank alone, about $750 million in foreign investments—hot money—in treasury bills exited during the peak of the crisis. But in the past few days, between $650 and $700 million has returned, which is roughly 80–90% of the amount that left.”
In conclusion, El-Etreby stressed that fixing the exchange rate for extended periods was not a sound policy and that it’s important to learn from past mistakes. He affirmed that the Central Bank Governor has the experience needed to manage the current phase professionally, adding, “Now, two years after the exchange rate liberalization, the current indicators are promising and point to stability.”
