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Economic Affairs Committee to propose exchange bureaux be obliged to deposit US dollars at CBE for 5 years There are 91 currency exchange companies, some of which own 20 branches, says MP El-Gohary
Member of the parliament's Economic Affairs Committee, Amr El-Gohary, said that he intends to suggest that exchange bureaux be obliged to make US dollars deposits at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for each of the companies' branches. He noted that there are 91 companies nationwide, some of which have over 20 branches. These companies are authorised for currency trade by the CBE, he added. It is paramount that they make US dollar deposits worth at least $100,000 per branch over three to five years. Moreover, he urged banks to support the exchange market by opening affiliated companies in urban places to erode speculations. On Monday, greenback registered EGP 18.10 on the unofficial market, before it fell on Wednesday to EGP 16 for sale and EGP 15.5 for buying. On the official market, the rate remained unchanged at EGP 8.83 for buying and EGP 8.88 for sale. Ali Al-Hariri, secretary general of the Foreign Exchange Bureaux Division at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, said that the proposal is unacceptable as long as the request has not been officially submitted to the parliament's Economic Affairs Committee and without having conducted a meeting with the division. He noted that the exchange bureaux have abided by the CBE's decisions, after 57 companies were shut down at the beginning of the year. The CBE is the sole supervisor for exchange market affairs. Furthermore, he pointed out that the division will call on the CBE to reopen closed companies. CBE law states that establishing an exchange company must be in the form of a joint stock company, with all its shares owned by Egyptians. The sole purpose of these companies must be currency trading, with a paid-up capital of no less than EGP 5m.
