Egypt's central bank governor sees currency black market ending "soon"

Egypt's central bank governor Hisham Ramez said the once-flourishing currency black market "will end soon" as the bank's moves to narrow the gap between the official and black market rates begin to bear fruit.

For more than two weeks the central bank has let the Egyptian pound weaken for the first time in six months, from its long-time rate of 7.14 pounds per dollar to a new low of 7.53 in Monday's auction.

Ramez said on Monday the government and banks were well positioned to absorb the black market into the formal market, and dismissed concerns the elimination of the unofficial market would lead to dollar shortages.

"Egypt does not have a dollar problem ... Egypt imports 60 billion dollars and receives 18 billion more in remittances from Egyptians abroad," Ramez said during a meeting with the Egyptian expatriate community in Kuwait.

Egypt has also received billions of dollars in aid from Gulf allies in the past year-and-a-half in the form of cash deposits in its central bank, as well as petroleum products.