What is the Egyptian pound (EGP ) ?

  Egyptian pound is the official currency of Egypt is the Egyptian pound (EGP ) . The symbol for EGP is E £ or Arabic ( ج . م ) . The Egyptian pound is divided into small denomination currency called qirsh or millimes . 1 EGP = 100 = 1000 qirsh Millemes .

Historical Egyptian Pound

Before the 19th century , locally minted coins were used in Egypt due to the absence of an official currency in the country .

In 1834, a decree was issued Khedivial provide for the issuance of an Egyptian currency based on a bimetallic basis , ie based on gold and silver .

 In 1885, the bimetallic standard was replaced by the single gold standard

was part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1885, the bimetallic standard was replaced by the single gold standard because of fluctuations in the value of money.

In 1898, the National Bank of Egypt was formed and began issuing the first banknotes a year later bank. These notes were convertible into gold until 1914, when the Egyptian pound has adopted a fixed exchange rate of the pound sterling. In 1961, the Central Bank of Egypt was formed and given the responsibility to manage and control the national currency. A year later , Egypt has left the sterling area and set its value against the U.S. dollar until 1989. Today, the exchange rate of the pound fluctuates while being closely managed by the central bank.

Legal exchange rates were fixed by force of law for important foreign currencies which became acceptable in the settlement of internal transactions. This led to Egypt using a standard gold facto between 1885 and 1914 , with E £ 1 = 7.4375 grams of pure gold . At the beginning of the First World War, the Egyptian pound was pegged to sterling at £ 0.975 EG GB 1 pound.

The first pound  note issued in 1899

Egypt continues to be part of the sterling area until 1962, when Egypt devalued slightly to a dollar peg of the United States , at a rate of £ 1 EG = 2.3 U.S. $. The anchor was changed to £ 1 = U.S. $ 2.55555 in 1973 , when the dollar was devalued . The book itself was devalued in 1978 to a stake of 1 pound = 1.42857 dollars ( 1 dollar = 0.7 pounds ) . The book floated in 1989, but the float is managed by the Central Bank of Egypt and exchange controls are in effect.

The Egyptian pound has also been used in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan between 1899 and 1956 , and Cyrenaica , where he was under British occupation and later an independent emirate between 1942 and 1951.

The National Bank of Egypt issued banknotes for the first time April 3, 1899 . The Central Bank of Egypt and National Bank of Egypt were unified in the Central Bankof Egypt in1961.