Egypt to develop new currency indicator to wean people off U.S. dollar - Reuters

CAIRO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Egypt volition make a caller currency indicator partially to wean radical disconnected the thought that the Egyptian lb should beryllium pegged to the U.S. dollar, the caller cardinal slope politician said connected Sunday.

Hassan Abdalla, appointed successful August, told an economical league that the cardinal slope was besides moving to present currency hedging and had already finished futures contracts arsenic it revamps its currency trading system.

The indicator would beryllium based connected a handbasket of respective currencies and perchance gold, helium said.

"It is for the involvement of the thought of pegging -- and I'm not talking astir the price, I'm speaking astir the idea," helium said. "America is not my large trading partner. I don't cognize wherefore radical are ever fixated connected the dollar.

"Part of our occurrence volition beryllium successful changing the civilization and thought that we are pegged. We privation to beryllium seen against each currency."

The Egyptian lb had been virtually fixed astatine astir 15.70 pounds against the dollar for 18 months earlier the Ukraine situation triggered a formation of billions of dollars retired of Egyptian treasuries successful a substance of weeks, prompting the cardinal slope to devalue the currency successful March and fto it gradually weaken since then.

Egypt since March has been negotiating a fiscal enactment bundle with the International Monetary Fund, which has agelong urged it to follow a much flexible speech rate.

The Egyptian lb had strengthened against the euro, the British lb and the Turkish lira since the the Ukraine crisis. "But radical don't spot each that," Abdalla told the conference.

Despite the currency revamp, Abdalla said the cardinal bank's superior ngo would beryllium to get inflation, present moving astatine 14%, nether control.

Reporting by Patrick Werr, Mahmoud Murad and Nayera Abdallah; editing by Diane Craft

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