Egypt\'s central bank said on Thursday that a US$2 billion loan from Qatar arrived in December, implying that the money had already been eaten up defending the currency before the foreign reserves crisis became public late last year.
News of the Qatari loan broke this week, and markets assumed that Egypt therefore had a cushion that would allow it to keep the pound\'s depreciation orderly, supporting Egyptian assets.
Political strife in late November and early December set off a rush to convert Egyptian pounds to dollars, sending the currency to record lows on concerns the government might devalue or bring in capital controls.
The central bank, which has spent more than US$20 billion defending the pound in the two years since Egypt\'s popular uprising, said on Dec 29 that its foreign reserves had reached a \"minimum and critical limit\".
News of the Qatari loan broke this week, and markets assumed that Egypt therefore had a cushion that would allow it to keep the pound\'s depreciation orderly, supporting Egyptian assets.
Political strife in late November and early December set off a rush to convert Egyptian pounds to dollars, sending the currency to record lows on concerns the government might devalue or bring in capital controls.
The central bank, which has spent more than US$20 billion defending the pound in the two years since Egypt\'s popular uprising, said on Dec 29 that its foreign reserves had reached a \"minimum and critical limit\".