Egypt’s transport leadership announced a changes to how foreigners pay for rail travel. Beginning in January 2023, train tickets would be sold to non‑Egyptians only in hard currencies, specifically the United States dollar or the euro. This directive was communicated to MBC TV and cited by DEA News as the source of the information.
According to the minister, the new policy takes effect next year and will be applied to all foreigners purchasing tickets. The aim is to simplify payments and reduce the friction caused by the country’s ongoing currency shortage, which at times drives visitors to informal currency exchanges on the street. The transport ministry indicated that the money collected from ticket sales in foreign currencies would be directed toward financing the purchase of new trains from abroad.
Meanwhile, the news agency TASS reported on efforts by Egypt’s central banking authorities to reassess the currency framework. Hassan Abdallah, head of the Central Bank of Egypt, has been involved in developing an index for the Egyptian pound. The goal behind this index is to move away from a fixed peg to the dollar and to consider a broader basket of assets and currencies for the currency’s value.
The proposed pound indicator is described as potentially including a mix of gold, other precious metals, and several currencies. This approach would reflect a broader set of economic forces and could influence future monetary policy decisions in Egypt.
Since March 2022, the central bank has raised interest rates by a total of 100 basis points, with the Egyptian pound losing ground against the dollar by more than 27 percent. Officials also noted that the pound showed strength against the euro, the British pound, and the Turkish lira, suggesting some differential movements across major currencies as monetary conditions evolve.