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Replying to Avatar Lyn Alden

Flying to Cairo tomorrow to visit friends and family, where I will be until shortly before Pacific Bitcoin.

I have a small wad of cash from last time which I will be bringing with me, that is now worth a lot less than last time I was there.

At the start of 2022, the exchange rate to the US dollar was 15 to 1. When I was there, the exchange rate was in the 20s, since the Egyptian central bank was in the process of devaluing it (at the behest of the IMF). Now it’s over 30 to 1, so these are all seven dollar bills basically.

My friends and family, whose wages are denominated in pounds, all got wage increases since the start of 2022, but they certainly didn’t get 100% wage increases, and so all of them earn fewer dollar-equivalents per hour thanks to this devaluation (which among other reasons is why the IMF wanted Egypt to do it).

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aerique 2y ago

> and so all of them earn fewer dollar-equivalents per hour thanks to this devaluation (which among other reasons is why the IMF wanted Egypt to do it)

But why?

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Lyn Alden 2y ago

The IMF did it to try to improve the country’s export/import trade balance, and it was a condition for them to give Egypt a dollar loan to refinance their dollar debt.

And at the end of the day, it’s the saver and wage earner that gets stuck with the cost.

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