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Economy
The dollar rises again
The pound is now trading officially at LE4.5 to the dollar, a sudden
rise of 8.4 per cent announced by the Central Bank on Thursday. The move
was significant in light of the fact that August saw a similar
devaluation of 6.4 per cent, meaning the pound has lost some 15 per cent
of its value in just six months.
The devaluation is an attempt to bring the official dollar-pound rate to
levels that would curtail black market trading that caused the rate to
soar to the high 4.90s just a few weeks ago. The press and the public
are still uncertain as to how the move will affect the already
struggling economy, and whether it is merely a prelude to an even
further devaluation in the coming year.
Al-Wafd proudly announced on Saturday that they predicted back on
November 17, that the pound would soon be devalued, but on the other
hand, who didn't? Meanwhile, a cartoon in Sunday's Al-Ahram pokes fun at
the currency's slide, showing two children rejecting their father's eid
gift of pounds, and asking him for dollars instead.
(December 17, 2001)
Politics/headline
news
Reacting
to the veto
Egypt and the Arab world reacted with dismay and surprise to
the US's knee-jerk veto of an emergency UN session's resolution to
establish a mechanism to monitor the deteriorating situation in the
Palestinian occupied territories. A previous Arab call for an
international monitoring force in the area had also been vetoed by the
US.
An emergency Arab foreign minister's meeting will be taking place at the
Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Thursday December 20, to discuss
possible Arab responses to the worsening situation on the ground between
Palestine and Israel.
(December 17, 2001)
Miscellaneous
Suad turnaround
Just a few days after it announced that British authorities
had concluded that actress Suad Hosny's death last summer was a suicide,
Al-Ahram's front page recently reversed itself and now says that an
English court has decided to extend the investigation into the
circumstances surrounding Hosny's death until February 13, in an attempt
to sort through some of the many contradictory statements it has
received while examining Hosny's fatal fall from the balcony of a
friend's apartment in a London high-rise.
(December 17, 2001)
New
developments
World's largest
museum?
The foundation stone of the new showcase Egyptian antiquities museum to
be built near the Pyramids on the Giza-Fayoum highway is set to be
placed in late January, according to Al-Akhbar. The paper reports that
the museum will cost some $350 million, and take 3 years, to build. The
money, which will be provided via low-interest banks loans and grants
from international bodies, is expected to be recouped within five years
of the museum's operation, the piece argues, saying that it will hold
approximately 150,000 priceless pieces, many of which will be
transferred from the current Egyptian national museum in Tahrir Square.
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