Cairo, October 31 (QNA) – The Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Hassan Abdullah, revealed today, during his meeting with a delegation from the Qatari Businessmen Association headed by HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, that the liberalization of the price of the Egyptian Pound against the dollar has been carried out in accordance with supply and demand and will revive the Egyptian economy, stressing that the profits of Qatari businessmen in their investments in Egypt will not be subject to any control and can be transferred to any place and at any time, indicating that a new law will be issued soon that will enable foreign banks to establish branches without the need for complicated procedures.
Hassan Abdullah added that the Central Bank of Egypt aims to rebuild international reserves in a gradual and sustainable manner, as the program was designed after ensuring that the financing gap would be closed within the next 4 years.
For his part, HE President of the Qatari Businessmen Association, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, said that his visit to Egypt and the associations delegation enabled him to stand on the Egyptian governments determination to support the private sector and businessmen and open the door to foreign investments, stressing the serious desire of Qatari businessmen to find real investment opportunities.
In turn, HE Member of the Board of Directors of the Association and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Masraf Al Rayan, Sheikh Hamad bin Faisal Al Thani, said that his banking group puts its capabilities at the disposal of Qatari investors wishing to invest in Egypt and that the bank is always looking for good opportunities, considering that Qatar National Bank opened the doors to invest in Egypt and this will encourage other banks.
He stressed that there were successful experiences of the bank in financing successful projects previously for Qatari investors in Egypt.
He pointed out that the business community is satisfied with the steps taken by the Central Bank, which is a positive reaction to the market.
For his part, HE a member of the Board of Directors of the Businessmen Association, Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser Al Thani, spoke about the issue of interest and said that they attended the opening of the Federation of Egyptian Industries and listened to new projects and there was a frank discussion between investors and the Egyptian President.
They also noticed many legislative reforms in favor of the private sector, but the issue of the investor transferring his profits abroad remains a matter of concern to foreign investors, wondering if there are laws on the horizon to improve this in the future.
As for Salah Jaidah, member of the Association and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deutsche Bank of the Middle East, he talked about the currency float and its repercussions and its contribution to attracting foreign investments, but he wondered that the foreign investor wants to know the value of the Egyptian Pound during the coming period and the future plans of the banks monetary policy, as he indicated that cash resources can be mobilized to increase the hard currency of the Bank from foreign investments and friendly countries.
He wondered about the possibility of enacting new laws that would enable the freedom of new banks to open branches in Egypt.
In the overall response of the governor and his two deputies, it was emphasized that the foreign investor does not have any obstacles towards transferring his profits, whether in joint stock companies or in private investments abroad, and that the value of the Egyptian Pound will be determined by the market in the near future and that the Central Bank is currently working on issuing a new law after presenting it to the Council of Ministers to enable licenses to open banks to the public.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt said that the bank is working hard to curb inflation, and will also work on building and developing the financial derivatives market, with the aim of deepening the foreign exchange market and raising the levels of liquidity in foreign currency.
(QNA)