Egypt’s central bank never discusses it publicly, but the Egyptian currency is headed toward devaluation in the coming months, whether policymakers like it or not. The only question is whether the pound’s loss of value will be messy and chaotic, or if Egypt’s new leaders can get their act together fast enough to keep the process managed and orderly.
With the country’s safety net of foreign reserves now barely large enough to cover the cost of three months of essential imports like fuel, the next few weeks will be crucial to staving off a crisis.