Yara El-Janaini_ Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), stated that the inflation rate surged to approximately 38% during the previous foreign currency shortage crisis, with some of its components recording rates ranging between 70% and 75%.
Abdalla added, during a panel discussion titled "Foreign Exchange Resources and Debt Management" within the activities of the Egypt 2026 Forum, that the crisis impacted the availability of goods, causing an accumulation of arrears and a backlog of cargo at ports, alongside escalating expectations regarding exchange rate movements in the parallel market.
He explained that the inflation rate recently declined to around 13%, in light of the improvement witnessed in several economic indicators, including the rise in net foreign international reserves, the increase in remittances from Egyptians working abroad, and the net foreign assets of banks turning into a surplus.
He stressed that the existence of two markets for the same commodity, primarily foreign currency, represents one of the most prominent imbalances facing the economy, given the impact of the exchange rate on the prices of goods and services, concurrently with inflationary pressures.
