Egypt considers dollar alternatives for trading commodities

Egypt is strongly considering approving the currencies of its commodity trade partners, including China, India and Russia to try to lessen the need for dollars, Supply Minister Ali Moselhy told reporters on Saturday.

“We are very, very, very strongly considering to try and import from countries and approve (use of) their local currency with the Egyptian currency,” said Moselhy.

“This hasn’t happened yet but it’s a long journey that we’ve already made progress on, whether with China or India or Russia, but to this moment no deal has been made,” he added.

The dollar's decades-old dominance has been called into question in recent months as global oil traders have sought payments in currencies other than the dollar.

The shift has been driven by Western sanctions on Russia and in countries, such as Egypt, that have a shortage of dollars.

Earlier this year, Russia added the Egyptian pound to its exchange rate list, but several local traders told Reuters that have to conduct non-dollar transactions.