Egypt examines buying wheat with Indian rupee and Chinese yuan

Supply and Domestic Trade Minister Ali Moselhi was quoted as saying by Al Ahram newspaper.

The official pointed out that the issue is still under consideration and no official agreement has been reached yet.

Egypt, the world’s main wheat importer, has been hit by a sharp rise in grain prices on the international market due to the conflict in Ukraine.

Two months ago, the General Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce defended the exchange of goods and services with other countries in national currencies instead of the dollar.

The company’s treasurer, Mohamed Attia Al Fayomi, assessed Cairo’s trend of signing trade deals with China and India in local currencies as a good move to ease pressure on the country’s finances.

He said Egypt has a great opportunity to appreciate the pound against a basket of major currencies.

The central bank recently added the Russian ruble to its core currencies with the aim of stimulating trade with the Eurasian bloc.

The treasurer highlighted the importance of the country’s adhesion to the new development bank of the BRICS group comprising China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Russia.

New economic alliances will reduce demand for dollars, which will benefit the Egyptian economy, he said.

In January, Mohamed Abdel-Hamid, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives’ economic committee, said the decision to join the new development bank was good news.

“We will benefit from the Bank’s financial and technical assistance in sectors such as sustainable development, health, infrastructure, transport, water and telecommunications,” he asserted at the time.

House National Security and Defense Committee Chairman and Member of Parliament Ahmed El-Awadi also praised the decision.

It represents a step in the fight against the dollarization phenomenon and opens up new markets for Egypt’s agricultural and industrial products, he said.

jf/rob