CAIRO – The new head of Egypt's central bank Hisham Ramez reassured investors there was no need to be worried about the situation on the Egyptian currency market, saying the bank had “all the tools” to intervene if it saw speculation. Ramez takes the reins in the midst of Egypt's most acute financial crisis since the uprising. An surge of political unrest in November sent Egyptians rushing to buy dollars for the Egyptian pound out of fear that the pound would tumble or the government would put capital controls in place. Reserves have fallen by $21 billion in the two years since Egypt's popular uprising to $15 billion, equal to less than three months of imports. The central bank, saying the country's foreign reserves had reached a “minimum and critical limit”, announced a new currency system on Dec. 29 to stabilize the pound. Since then the pound has fallen to record lows. “The matter is not out of control. On the contrary, at any time we can control it,” Ramez told reporters shortly after President Mohamed Morsi named him as the new governor. “The central bank has all the tools to enable it to intervene at anytime it feels there is speculation or anything against the market.” Ramez, who worked as deputy central banker during the financial turbulence of Egypt's uprising in early 2011, is expected to assume his duties on Feb. 3 after Morsi accepted the resignation of his predecessor Farouk El-Okdah. – Reuters
