A group of experts told RT about the possibility of Egypt trading the Russian ruble in trade with Russia in light of the hard currency crisis Egypt is facing.
Russia expert Nabil Rashwan said the issue of resorting to local or national currency in transactions should have some kind of parity, pointing out that the value of the Russian ruble is seventy rubles to the dollar and that there are two currencies in Russia. , the legal currency and the currency circulating in the markets and in domestic transactions in Russia.
He pointed out that there was a gold ruble in Russia and the value of the gold ruble was slightly higher than the dollar, but this legal currency does not currently exist and Egypt used it because Egypt’s relationship with the United States of America was complicated, in addition to large Egypt’s deals with the Soviet Union, which at the time was helping Egypt.
He noted that Egypt was an ally of the Soviet Union, and therefore the Soviet Union helped Egypt almost like any country of the socialist camp or the Warsaw Pact. Now the situation is different. Russia now has a market economy, and now Russia is a capitalist country, and the issue has become more complicated, and in Egypt the same question.
The Egyptian expert said the process might be difficult for Egypt, but it is one of the solutions to end the dollar crisis, and the problem is that Egypt cannot import because the dollar is in short supply for many reasons, including that Egypt pays its debts and debts. services, and therefore a lot of dollars are needed for this.
Rashwan noted that if Egypt could negotiate and agree between the price of the pound sterling and the price of the Chinese yuan and the Russian ruble, and we could even deal with Egypt, China, Egypt and Russia in this context, this would be a very wonderful thing, because that this would greatly reduce the burden on Egypt’s reserves and the country’s hard currency earnings, when it is badly needed.
He added that major projects between Egypt and Russia, including the Dabaa nuclear project, after the construction of the first reactor and its operation to generate electricity, Egypt will begin to pay on the Russian loan. Will Egypt pay in pounds or in Russian rubles? has improved, so it is difficult to say about the success of this process, but there should be agreements and agreements on exchange rates between some of them, meaning the pound against the ruble, and the pound against the Chinese yuan.
Economic Analyst Hanan Ramses
For its part, Egyptian economic analyst Hanan Ramses said that Egypt is trying to trade in currencies other than the dollar, such as the Chinese yuan and the Russian ruble, in the Egyptian pound or in exchange for rubles. how to deal with china in yuan.
She pointed out that China has been able to register the yuan in the currency basket since 2011, and indeed there are commercial exchanges in yuan in various countries around the world and it has a stable exchange rate, and Russia was on track to have its currency in the currency basket last year if not the Russo-Ukrainian war, which led to a package of economic sanctions that affected its lending and banking operations and delayed the possibility of a Russian presence in the currency basket.
And the Egyptian analyst continued: “But I think it’s for a temporary period. As for the benefits of working with currencies other than the dollar, it shakes the throne of the dollar and gives it its true power, much of which has been lost, whether globally or at the level of United States of America due to high inflation rates and the possibility of entering a wave of global economic recession due to tight financial policies that forced the economies of the world to follow the same measure.
Regarding the situation in Egypt, if he uses currencies other than the dollar, Ramses confirmed that the economic situation will be better because it will reduce the use of the dollar, and therefore there will be no current pressure on foreign exchange reserves, and dealers will not resort to taking. the advantage of the price difference, since the price of the dollar will be fixed against the pound and constant supply. For a dollar with no demand from exporters, importers, and producers due to its replacement by another currency, this will strengthen the value of the dollar. pound and raise its price against the dollar, but care must be taken to secure the yuan and the ruble and establish an indicative exchange rate for them before using them as a tool for trading so that we are not subject to crises like those that introduced his pound to the dollar.
Expert Zuhdi Al-Shami
Zuhdi al-Shami, a Russia specialist and vice president of the Socialist Alliance, said there is no doubt that developing economic relations with other emerging major international powers, led by Russia and China, is one important way out of the crisis. The current crisis in Egypt.
Al-Shami pointed out that these countries, along with the BRICS group of countries, represent a large space that can balance the dictates of the West, and that Egypt can benefit from the tendency of these countries to encourage trade exchange in national currencies such as the yuan and the ruble as an alternative the dominance of the US dollar in the global economy.
He continued: “However, given the current trade situation between Egypt and Russia and China, we note that Egypt’s trade balance with them suffers from a very large imbalance, which is not in favor of Egypt, as is the situation with Egypt’s trade balance. in general, even though Egypt imports, for example, a significant amount of products from Russia.” , which is only about 12% of the value of imports from Russia.
Al-Shami noted that most of the aforementioned Egyptian exports are (fruits and vegetables), which means that Egypt has lost industrial goods that it previously exported to Russia and that it has not taken advantage of the opportunities currently available to access the Russian market. .
He pointed out that the situation with China is almost the same, except that Egyptian exports are mainly concentrated on fuel and oil products, in other words, Egypt should try to break the current deadlock by developing relations with Russia, China and other emerging powers, but in order to achieve To do this, it must make efforts, they are forced to develop their domestic production structures, and for this they can benefit from economic cooperation with Russia and China to develop strategic production and industrial structures and projects, and have the highest priority in the economic direction of the state in Egypt.
Source: RT
Cairo – Nasser Hatem