UAE & Egypt Pen Currency Swap Deal

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) entered into a more than US$1 billion bilateral swap deal in local currencies yesterday. The CBUAE and CBE said in a joint statement that the agreement allows for the exchange of UAE dirhams and Egyptian pounds with a nominal amount of up to 5 billion dirhams (US$1.36 billion) and 42 billion Egyptian pounds (US$1.36 billion).

Egypt has been suffering from a hard currency crunch with the Egyptian pound falling by about half against the dollar since March 2022 after the Ukraine crisis exposed its economy’s vulnerabilities. The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have made deposits in Egypt’s central bank and pledged major new investments there to ease the country’s financial difficulties. CBUAE Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama said “the CBUAE is keen to deepen its co-operation with the CBE to achieve common interests,” the statement quoted him as saying.