Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt will not adopt the complete flotation of its domestic currency, said Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.

“We only aims a flexible exchange rate for the Egyptian pound against the US dollar,” added Cabinet head.

“Both the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the Ministry of Finance are entitled to determine the flexible price of Egypt’s pound,” added Ismail, noting that the current situation does not reflect the fair value of Egypt’s pound against US dollar.

Market expectations predicted that the CBE would float the Egyptian pound or reduce its value against the US dollar.

Last March, CBE devalued the pound by about 14% to reach EGP 8.78 against the dollar in an effort to close the gap between the official and parallel rate.

Earlier, news reports stated that the country's net foreign reserves jumped to $19.59 billion at the end of September, their highest in over a year. The central bank governor has said he would consider letting the pound float freely if reserves exceed $25 billion.

Egypt had roughly $36 billion in reserves before a 2011 uprising that ushered in a period of turmoil, scaring off tourists and foreign investors, key sources of hard currency.