Egypt’s Central Bank Takes Steps to Regulate Forex Market

The Central Bank of Egypt said on Monday it is taking all necessary actions to regulate the foreign exchange market and achieve monetary stability in the near future.

“The bank had observed illegal practices related to the foreign exchange market and illegal attempts to make quick profits,” its statement said.

Moreover, the Board of Directors of the Bank has exempted customers dealing with electronic payment and collection services, from all expenses and commissions related to bank transfer services, for individuals, which are carried out through electronic channels, in some services, starting from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.

The CBE decided to exempt customers of the national system for real-time payments – which was launched in April – from all expenses and commissions related to real-time transfer services.

The system is expected to be an integrated alternative to cash payments, allowing all remittance services to customers in real-time, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

The CBE has exempted all customers from transfer fees for the first transaction per month to transfer from any mobile phone wallet to any other wallet, and the value of one Egyptian pound as a maximum for the expenses incurred by the customer for transfer transactions that take place between mobile phone wallets belonging to the same service provider.

As for transfer transactions that take place between any two mobile phone wallets that are not affiliated with the same service provider, the existing pricing has been modified to be a maximum of EGP15 per transaction. 

Contributed by H-Tayea